09/12/2014

The Chemo is OVER!  Evan had his second to last hospital stay over the labor day weekend and was discharged on Monday 09/01/2014.  His last round was started on 09/04/2014 and he was discharged on 09/08/2014.  He had blood testing yesterday 09/11/2014 and his ANC was excellent at 2067 so he is on his way to having normal white counts again.  He is currently scheduled to have a bone scan (dexa) and a series of x-rays on 09/24/2014 and will have a sedated MRI and Cat scan on 09/25/2014.  These tests will determine if the Osteo sarcoma has been chased away or has returned in another section of bone.  The tests will also determine if there has been any Mets to his lungs or other body parts.  This will put a milestone in his chart that he is NED (no evidence of disease) but he will need to be scanned on a regular basis for at least 5 years as the testing will not pick up very very small growths.  We are very optimistic that he will have clear scans but the waiting for the tests and results are very nerve wracking.

In August we traveled to Tampa to see the Ortho Doctor that did Evans' limb salvage.  He had x-rays of the arm to see if the screws, plates and bone graft were doing.  This was a happy report as the hardware is where it is supposed to be and there is even a very little bit of growth over the graft near the elbow.  This process is expected to accelerate once he stops the chemo completely and since the cessation of chemo has happened he should begin the process.  The Doctor also needed to determine if Evan needed PT so he asked Evan to move his arm up laterally away from  his body as well a up out in front of his body.  The expectation was for around 35 to 40 degrees and he achieved 75 degrees!  There will be no need for PT.  Evan then decided to show the Doctor he could do even better and grabbed his right hand with his left and lifted his right arm above his head.  The Doctor was impressed and Meghan was astounded.  We will see the Doctor again in December.

Evan started school on time and is doing really well.  He will miss time when he is hospitalized or in clinic for testing.  The school and hospital worked out a plan for him that makes sure he is not penalized for time out and that he receives tutoring when hospitalized.  He likes school and actually drags himself to school the very next day after hospitalization.  He is quite the tired puppy when he arrives home.

On a very sad note, a fine young lady that befriended Evan and Meghan in the hospital and had Osteo sarcoma has earned her angel wings.  Wendy was the type of person that would make Evan feel comfortable when in hospital and would even get in bed with him to comfort him.  They shared a special bond.  Wendy was 27 and fought the disease for at least 3 years.  Upon discovery she had Mets to the lungs, had leg salvage surgery and a few lung surgeries.  She was traveling to Moffit in Tampa for a study drug which was inhaled cisplatin but the drug didn't work as designed and she developed more areas in her lung.  She had more lung surgery in a specialty hospital in the Chicago area and returned to Fort Myers on 08/10/2014.  She was at all times determined to beat the beast.  I was at the hospital picking up Evan when her soul mate Shell was in Evans' room.  This was the first time I had met Shell (other than through social media) and Shell told me that Wendy really wanted to meet me as again we only knew each other through social media.  We were on our way down the hall to her room when the ICU team arrived and for privacy reasons I decided to not continue to her room.  I took Meghan and Evan home and found out that on Monday Wendy had passed away.  It was very sad that I didn't get to meet her but I will always remember her as the vibrant, tough young woman that took the time, even though she was hurting and battling her own disease, to nurture and ease the burden of a fellow "Osteoite".  She did this for many other people around the US that had Osteo sarcoma through blogs and Facebook Osteo pages.  There was a well attended memorial service for Wendy on 08/16/2014 that was touching.  On 09/02/2014 Chick-fila where Wendy worked held a fund raiser for the new wing being built at Health Park for ONCOLOGY PEDS department.  This was an event that Wendy had been working on putting together and the event went on as planned in her honor.  The event raised well over 5k for the hospital, a fine testimonial of all the people locally that knew of or about Wendy.

I will report on the findings of the testing that is about to take place.  I sincerely hope that we can all celebrate shortly.