Update about the doc consults and surgery today
We had two consults last week. One for radiation and one for surgery. We didn't love them. The radiation one just gave us a rundown of how that will go and some of the side effects. Most of them uncommon, but a few, more than likely. He will probably not develop to his full height because of the radiation to the spine. That made me sad, but Logan said he has always wanted to be short. So, I got over that pretty fast 😂. He will be the only 7 year I know with tats. He gets a few permanent dots tattooed on his abdomen. He will have a mold made especially for him to lie in and then they line up the machine and fire away. He will have a treatment each day for 11 days. Some for his lung, some for his flank area (kidney, lymph nodes, liver, and surrounding area, then some additional for his liver. They don't think it was affected but have to be safe. The radiation also increases his risk for hardening of the arteries later in life and also cancer. But, a healthy lifestyle can really help that.
The next day was the surgery consult. It went pretty darn crappy. His CT scan was scheduled for later that afternoon so we were going off scans from six weeks prior. The surgeon explained how difficult the surgery is going to be and told us that his biggest concerns were probably not going to change from the last scans. Think heart bypass and opening up his chest in addition to the giant opening in his abdomen, which I was already nervous about. Then think pulling cancerous tumor out of the vena cava that drains his healthy kidney and possibly having to scrape it out and put plastic in it to repair it. Apparently vena cava is important 😉. He just did not think it could change enough to avoid going into the vein. Fast forward 8 hours. Surgeon calls us and tells us that he just did not expect it, but the tumor in the vena cava resolved itself and is no longer an issue and he thinks the other stuff can be reached safely just through the abdomen because it was on the borderline and shrunk just enough. We chose option B. 😂 So, The moral of the story is... Don't go to consultations with doctors. Oh, and miracles happen every day 🙏👏💖.
We feel like we have done all we can do from a spiritual standpoint: preparing ourselves to receive inspiration, praying, fasting, priesthood blessing and have left the rest to the Lord. I can't begin to explain how good it feels to just let the worry go. Our Faith had gotten stronger which makes everything easier. Dan and I didn't have any nerves going into surgery today. Okay, leaving Logan with the surgeons while he was crying may have caused some emotions, but no nerves. The surgery went just as they hoped it would. They think they got it all but can't ever quite be sure. That is the point of the radiation and all the chemo we have left. It does feel fantastic to have that giant cancerous tumor out of him, that's for sure. They took the kidney, a bunch of lymph nodes in the area and some out of one of the veins, but did not have to touch the one they worried about. Logan is doing well. He has an epidural for pain for the next 3 or 4 days because apparently the pain is pretty brutal. His throat is a little sore from the breathing tube and that's as much pain as he had right now which makes for very relieved parents and patient. His nurse here in the picu is fantastic. He will stay the night in intensive care and then move up to our usual area for the next 5 or 6 days. He's going to have a pretty sweet scar. He wakes up for 30 seconds at a time and then says he wants to go back to sleep. So, we haven't chatted with him much. That's the update. Radiation starts in 10 days and then we will get the second half of this chemo done and get the heck out of this hospital for good 😀. Thanks again for all the prayers and fasts on Logan's behalf. The news we received about the change in status of his vena cava and the surgery is, in our opinion, God showing off a little 😉. We joke about that when God's hand seems so obvious. The more we look, the more we see, and we see so many little miracles and feel like God is right there with us. So, thank you all for helping make that happen. We love you all, even the total strangers. This really is unity at its finest.
The next day was the surgery consult. It went pretty darn crappy. His CT scan was scheduled for later that afternoon so we were going off scans from six weeks prior. The surgeon explained how difficult the surgery is going to be and told us that his biggest concerns were probably not going to change from the last scans. Think heart bypass and opening up his chest in addition to the giant opening in his abdomen, which I was already nervous about. Then think pulling cancerous tumor out of the vena cava that drains his healthy kidney and possibly having to scrape it out and put plastic in it to repair it. Apparently vena cava is important 😉. He just did not think it could change enough to avoid going into the vein. Fast forward 8 hours. Surgeon calls us and tells us that he just did not expect it, but the tumor in the vena cava resolved itself and is no longer an issue and he thinks the other stuff can be reached safely just through the abdomen because it was on the borderline and shrunk just enough. We chose option B. 😂 So, The moral of the story is... Don't go to consultations with doctors. Oh, and miracles happen every day 🙏👏💖.
We feel like we have done all we can do from a spiritual standpoint: preparing ourselves to receive inspiration, praying, fasting, priesthood blessing and have left the rest to the Lord. I can't begin to explain how good it feels to just let the worry go. Our Faith had gotten stronger which makes everything easier. Dan and I didn't have any nerves going into surgery today. Okay, leaving Logan with the surgeons while he was crying may have caused some emotions, but no nerves. The surgery went just as they hoped it would. They think they got it all but can't ever quite be sure. That is the point of the radiation and all the chemo we have left. It does feel fantastic to have that giant cancerous tumor out of him, that's for sure. They took the kidney, a bunch of lymph nodes in the area and some out of one of the veins, but did not have to touch the one they worried about. Logan is doing well. He has an epidural for pain for the next 3 or 4 days because apparently the pain is pretty brutal. His throat is a little sore from the breathing tube and that's as much pain as he had right now which makes for very relieved parents and patient. His nurse here in the picu is fantastic. He will stay the night in intensive care and then move up to our usual area for the next 5 or 6 days. He's going to have a pretty sweet scar. He wakes up for 30 seconds at a time and then says he wants to go back to sleep. So, we haven't chatted with him much. That's the update. Radiation starts in 10 days and then we will get the second half of this chemo done and get the heck out of this hospital for good 😀. Thanks again for all the prayers and fasts on Logan's behalf. The news we received about the change in status of his vena cava and the surgery is, in our opinion, God showing off a little 😉. We joke about that when God's hand seems so obvious. The more we look, the more we see, and we see so many little miracles and feel like God is right there with us. So, thank you all for helping make that happen. We love you all, even the total strangers. This really is unity at its finest.
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