Thomas looked perfect. He had no new tumors, and the existing ones didn't need any treatment. They simply took pictures of his eye. Thomas' remaining eye (his left) looks wonderful.
Mason also had good news today. He had one tiny tumor in the periphery of his eye. When the tumors are in the periphery, the angle is difficult to treat with a laser. Therefore, they opted to treat it with cryo (freezing). So, Mason's remaining eye (his right) looks great as well.
Boy, we were hoping 3 for 3 in the good news category...
Luke's situation continues to be one they have to watch carefully. It's a different scenario because his left eye isn't simply fighting the retinoblastoma and tumors. Where to start...
His Right eye looks great, no problems or new tumor growth.
Luke's Left Eye - His retina situation hasn't improved much since his last EUA. This is unfortunate. The retina has reattached, but there is very little, if any, blood supply to the area. Dr. Gallie guesses he has very little vision in this eye, probably only one small spot in the periphery.
The Dr.'s are also concerned there may be some seeding in the anterior part of his eye (front of his left eye - his problem eye). Nobody wants to risk seeding in this eye, due to the fact he has a macular hole (macular hole is in the posterior - back), and needle holes in the eye due to a procedure done a few weeks ago called a 'vitrectomy'. (Needle holes are in the anterior of the eye). The seeding issue is a concern - if they are infact seeds. There is a chance it is simply silicone oil 'bubbles' that look like seeds. (It is unlikely, but a possibility, that cancer seeds can escape the eye cavity through the holes mentioned above...)
If Luke's left eye blood supply isn't greatly improved or healed in 3 weeks at his next EUA, it is anticipated that they will likely enucleate Luke's left eye. No reason to fight tumors in an eye that:
A. can't see, and
B. allows a risk of cancer to spread to soft tissue elsewhere in the body.
They treated his Left Eye with mela today...
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Sweet Leslie and Richard. I think they'd agree it never gets easy to hear about possible enucleation. Even when you've been through it twice with 2 other children...
It's still your sweet, perfect baby.
Fighting an awful, ugly cancer.
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Meanwhile Benson is keeping everyone smiling:
So glad to hear the good news about Thomas and Mason, but so disappointing to hear that Luke's eye isn't healing as well as everyone had hoped. I can't imagine that it will ever get easier to make the decision about enucleation but if you do have to go that route, I would hope that your worry would be greatly reduced. It sure would be nice to have good reports for all three boys at one of your visits! It must also have been nice to be able to take Benson along with you this time We were able to take Erin's big brother on a couple of visits and I really think it helped make him part of the experience - now he also remembers the hospital and visiting Erin's "special doctors". I continue to think about you all often and hope we will be able to meet sometime soon. Safe travels home!
ReplyDeleteI've been reading your story for a while now. So sorry to hear about Luke's eye. All your boys are beautiful even with one eye and I'm sure when they grow up they will understand the struggle you had to go through to keep their eyesight as perfect as possible. They are strong little boys and I hope their struggle with this horrible disease ends soon so they can enjoy their family and their baby life.
ReplyDeleteHappy and then so sad. Sweet babies and amazing parents (and big bro)! Hang in there, so many prayers still coming your way!
ReplyDeleteBittersweet news. Said many prayers all throughout the day yesterday and I will continue to do so. God bless your family. The boys are so sweet and beautiful!
ReplyDeleteHappy about Thomas and Mason, sad about Luke. Your little ones are all so precious. Heavenly Father is so aware of them and all that you and they are going thru. We love you, stay strong.
ReplyDeleteThinking good thoughts for you. May the right decision be clear in three weeks, whatever it is will be for the best. Xoxox
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