Radiation Therapy has begun

Kira started her radiation treatment yesterday; these daily treatments will take her right up to Christmas.  She will rely on quarterly scans for a few years to ensure the Cancer remains gone, so we won’t have an “all clear” test at the end of her treatment.  The main short-term side effect of radiation is fatigue, so Kira won’t be 100% for a while, but she is so much better than this past summer.

Her tumor is wrapped around the top and side of her heart and the top of her left lung.  It did shrink 50% during the chemo treatments, but not enough to forego radiation.  The radiation appointments will be about an hour with the majority of time dedicated to set-up.  Kira wears a mesh mask that was molded to her face and is attached to the bed.  Along with a formed back/side bracing, this keeps the body positioned for the specific radiation treatment.  She also received her very first tattoos (4) to serve as reference points.  The doctors, nurses, and technicians are nice and very thorough.

Alien Baby Extraction!

Today was a monumental milestone for Kira ~ the official end of chemotherapy!  She had her port surgically removed at Seattle Children’s Hospital.  The port allows the chemo to enter her bloodstream through larger arteries that immediately go into the heart, as opposed to using a vein in an arm and having the arm absorb the chemo before it gets to the heart to pump throughout the body.  It also allows for easily hook-up once you get into the hospital, or easy blood draws at the clinic.  However, it also becomes “the” reminder of chemo over time and it feels alien in the body as it resides just beneath the skin.  Today, that reminder is gone!

We have an empty weekend for recovery (hallelujah!) and Kira is aiming to return to school next week!  She will also start radiation at UW on Tuesday and return each day afterschool for a short 1-hour appointment.  The 14-day radiation cycle ends on December 23.  She won’t have an “all-clear” test or scan as radiation works over time.  A few months into the New Year, she’ll get a scan to ensure that the cancer hasn’t returned.  This will continue 2-4 times per year for a few years, and then reduce to annually.

We are feeling better about radiation and about getting it done at the UW.  While we hold high regard for UW, Swedish just built a new hospital close to us.  We contacted Swedish and talked to the Oncology Radiologist and quickly found out that he is buddies with the UW Oncology Radiologist.  They are very good and detailed-oriented doctors and understood our concern to compare the equipment at the two hospitals.  The equipment is the same, but both thought that keeping Kira inside the SCCA network will benefit communications. 

We really appreciated your comments on Facebook expressing your support and prayers to our family.  Thank you Peggy for being at the house to watch over the kiddos today and all the cleaning that you do, and thank you to Jen for taking care of Vanessa and Baron today!