Day 111 - Avoided surgery....for now

     As the title indicates no further surgeries are imminent.  Evan and I headed down for a MRI of his ankle this morning around 6:00 a.m.  The tentative plan had been to operate this afternoon if the MRI supported the CT scan findings, which showed pockets of fluid at the site of entry for one of his previous surgeries.  The orthopedic team didn't find anything there, however they found a growth on his right heel.  At this time they feel this growth is small enough to avoid surgery and are satisfied with how his foot and ankle look.  Another CT scan is being scheduled for tomorrow to check for growths on his organs and stomach.

NPO has been lifted, time to eat!

     You may be asking yourself "Why are there so many growths?".  Or, "Didn't you guys go in originally because of cysts cropping up on his arms?".  Both very valid questions.  From talking to the ID and Oncology teams over the past few days they believe all of these growths point to a different problem.  The feeling right now is that Evan's immune system isn't ready for prime time yet and the Voriconazole doses we administer twice daily aren't cutting it.  Although test results haven't come back yet, his anti-fungal levels are being re-checked.  No cultures have formed as of yet so this is a very good sign that we're not dealing with bacteria.

Black Panther is on the case.

     I'm hopeful that they'll release us tomorrow.  If we're talking purely about dosage concerns they should have enough samples to do this while we await results from the house.  Evan's next chemo session is scheduled for next Monday and I wouldn't be surprised to see them add a couple more tests.  At that time all of his dosages will be at their highest yet as they continue to test his bone marrow's ability to bounce back and create healthy cells.  The next chemo phase hasn't been shared with us yet, however we should get a 10 - 14 day break for his body to recover.  Cristy and I are anxiously/cautiously awaiting delayed intensification, which should be coming soon.

Halloween fun in The Zone.

     Since we've basically been in wait and see mode Evan and Cristy got a chance to head down to The Zone to do some fun stuff today.  As this pictures on this blog entry show he's been enjoying himself much more during this stay at CHoA.  I haven't posted a song in a while and thought this one would be fitting considering all this talk about feet.  It's called Club Foot by Kasabian.