We met with the lead doctor for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma yesterday
afternoon to assess Kira’s all-day tests from Monday. The good news is that she is done with
chemo! She is tentatively scheduled to
get her port surgically removed tomorrow.
After it’s removed, she wants to run it over with the car!
Unfortunately, her mass hasn’t changed since her 2nd
chemo treatment. To ensure that the
cancerous cells are truly dead, they recommend 3 weeks of daily radiation even
though her PET scans were clean after chemo treatment #2. Radiation therapy is insurance against a
second flare up of Hodgkin’s as that would be more problematic. We have mixed emotions. We want the best care for Kira and know that the
Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (Fred Hutchinson, UW, and Seattle Children’s Hospital)
is a leading cancer research organization in the world. On top of that, Seattle Children’s is
connected to the other 200+ Children’s hospitals around the world. This has given them an amazing amount of
pediatric cancer patient data to create treatment plans. That said, Kira’s PET
scans were clear and the radiation is to ensure they remain clear. Radiation has its own side effects and we
just want to be done.
If the penciled-in schedule remains in-tact, the radiation
treatments will start Monday at UW and will take her right up to Christmas. We have UW appts today to prep for the
radiation therapy, but are considering getting a 2nd opinion and look
into getting the radiation treatments at the brand new Issaquah Swedish
Hospital to avoid the daily 520 bridge traffic.
We are pretty bummed and Kira is frustrated, but we know
it’s for the best. Thank you for your help, hugs, support, prayers, gifts,
rides, and laughter.
Cost of treatment to-date = $178K (3 months). I’m in the wrong line of work!
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