So, what was to be a routine check in with Jace’s Houston Oncologist turned out to be a 10 hour day!!! We went through so many rollercoasters of emotions and so much different information!
We were in the room visiting with the Oncologist as he proceeds to tell us that we are gonna give Jace a liquid chemo when he starts his radiation… answering questions… yadda yadda yadda…. he walks out and Jamie receives a phone call…
It’s the Radiation Center… The machine that Jace was going to be getting his treatments from has broken and his simulation was canceled… “ARE YOU KIDDING?!?!?!” As we have seen in the past, Jace didn’t have time to wait around for this machine to get fixed, cause we’ve seen how aggressive this cancer can be! So the only thing that kept going through our mind was… What would happen if we waited too long?!?!?
We went from hoping to start radiation, to not having it for 2 weeks, and then from having to start up his chemotherapy again to try and control anything that might be growing till we can get him into radiation… (Proton Radiation), and we also didn’t know was this chemotherapy going to take place in Houston??? If so, we wanted to do it back home In Corpus… and then all of a sudden, we were back at square one and even more lost than before!
I’ll tell you one thing, the Dr’s at MD Anderson, definitely don’t waste anytime…. As we were sitting in the waiting room getting impatient, roughly a 4 minute wait, they pull us back into the room and both the Oncologist and Radiologist walk in… Wow, both Dr’s… and WITH A PLAN!!!
We were presented with Electron Radiation for some of the radiation areas that they were going to cover anyways and then around the time that the Proton Machine was to get fixed, Jace would be ready to have the “Effected Area” Radiated with the Proton Machine! So, we are now back on track.
Thursday Morning we will go in for Electron Radiation Simulation and then on Friday Morning they are going to run a Spinal Tap to check his CSF and Access his Omaya Reservoir to check that CSF as well! and then from what we were told, Jace will start his Radiation on Monday July 14th…. (CSF = Cerebral Spinal Fluid)
As some of y’all might remember from the very beginning, we were presented with a “Special” kind of Chemotherapy called Anthracycling…. well one of the Dr’s that was part of that Protocol is Jace’s Houston Oncologist, so today meeting this Dr for the first time was kind of surreal, cause if it wasn’t for this study being presented to Jace’s VERY FIRST Oncologist, I don’t think we would have had the success that we did with Chemo…. Remember the “Special” Chemo Protocol was presented “OUT OF THE BLUE” to us 4 days before he was to start chemo…. A Sign From God??? I Truly Believe!!!!!!
This Oncologist examined and looked at Jace in amazement…. asking us over and over……”With the first 4 rounds… with the (HEAVY STUFF) they never lowered the doses????” and we repeated 4 times… “No sir, they never did!!!” and he was speechless! He asked, “How is his speech, motor skills, walking, and other things?” So Jace starts to have a conversation with the Dr… Runs down the hall of the hospital and back…. and we tell the Dr. that he counts in Spanish…. and knows the majority of his alphabet in sign language as well as some other signs, His Heart Tests Have Come Back Fine, His Audiology Test (Hearing) have improved each time, and so on! He couldn’t believe it! He had that look like, this kid shouldn’t even be here cause of the severity of the chemo he received!!! Well, when God is in control… Anything is possible!
This Oncologist also told us, that from what he has seen in Jace’s Scans… that he isn’t 100% that the “enhancement” in Jace’s MRI Slides is Reaccurance!!! Oh Praise god fro being able to hear that! It’s not for sure that he is correct, but just with that statement alone, it gave Jamie and I a little chance to catch our breath!!!
So, from what I can tell, we start the 2nd Part of Jace’s Journey tomorrow with the Simulation, Friday with some Labs, and Ultimately Start Up on Monday July 14!!!
Thank You to All Of You For Your Prayers!!! There definetely is Power in Prayer!
And remember what Our Lord Jesus Christ said….. “Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them!!!!” — Amen!
Saint Peregrine (Patron Saint of Cancer), Saint Jude (Saint of Lost Causes), Saint Rita (Saint of The Impossible) — PRAY FOR US!!!!!!
Love To All and God Bless,
Joshua, Jamie, and Jace Sandoval