First Post-Surgery(ish) Update

Remember all that positivity I was harnessing this morning?  It seems it was a bit unfounded.  I'm throwing that out there for anyone who might want to not read this post...

The neurosurgeon came out and talked to us around 4:15p to give us the scoop.  He said the surgery still had quite a bit to do, but it was at a point where it was all the final stuff that needed to be done, and he could step away.

He said that their belief that it was a JPA, which was a kinder gentler version of cancer that they were hoping to find, was not to be.  They can't tell us with specific certainty what kind of cancer that they found, but they believe it was a type of Medulloblastoma, a much more aggressive and malignant cancer that has a tendency to spread.

The goal of today's surgery was to go in and get as close to 100% of the cancer that was possible.  This was because with the JPA, if you got 100% of the cancer, it would be gone forever*.  However, with this other type of cancer, that would not be the case.

With the cancer as it stands, it's going to reappear at some point, and they are going to need to further attack it with at least chemotherapy, if not radiation, or both.

So he said to us that they would work towards closing her up for today (that's still going on 2+ hours later as I write this at 6:34p), and give her a 3rd MRI tomorrow morning to see what is left.

Amie will then be given opportunity to heal up, gain strength, possibly go home for a bit, and then start chemo within the next two weeks.

No jokes in this one.  Can't quite manage it.




We're staying in the Ronald McDonald House for the weekend, and are hoping we get to see our little girl sometime tonight, as she wakes up from the most utterly horrendous day that I could really devise for a two year old.

Ok, I have to end this post on SOMETHING other than that last sentence I just typed.

My sister drove up and picked up Anya this afternoon and took her out for a free-wheeling afternoon of doting.  They went to Red Robin, they went and saw Nemo 3D.  I'm sure they did other stuff too, but all I know is those two things and this picture.

I'm sure Anya is confused and missing her best friend, but she got to have a heckuva fun day with Auntie Beth, Uncle Noe, and a school skipping little girl named Allyssa.  As a teacher, I hereby approve of the skipping.  Yay.