still waiting....

I realize you have all been asking what is going on with Cheyenne's treatment.  Chemo?  Radiation?  When?  How much?  And the only answer that I am able to give you all is that we still don't know.  I have had about 15 different answers thus far and seeing as it is ever changing I will give you the little info that I do know.

Cheyenne has an appointment tomorrow at the Juravinski Cancer Centre to have her mask made for radiation.  Once the mask has been made they will do a CAT scan of her head (Please pray for all involved because this will be done without sedation).  Once they get the results of this scan they will be able to make a better judgement regarding her treatment.  The easiest way to describe it is that the area being treated is very close to the bone.  And the temporal lobe of her brain is on the other side of the bone.  They have to be very careful as to the amount of radiation that Cheyenne is exposed to so that she doesn't suffer from long-term damage.  There are different options available to us, and we are waiting patiently for the doctors to come to their conclusions.  Please pray that the doctors will have wisdom as they make these decisions.
Originally we were told that Chey would receive chemo along side her radiation, then we were told no.  Today I received a call to say that I was to be prepared for admit thursday night for chemo on Friday.  All this is tentative, and we will get our final answer tomorrow.  Reason being is that one of her meds can not be received while on radiation.

It can be very frustrating with the constant change and not being able to plan and such, but I have confidence that they are doing what is BEST for Cheyenne.  I know that they are spending time researching what would be optimum in her situation. 

Thanks for being patient I will update once I have more information.

Yesterdays appointment was rescheduled

Just as we were about to leave for yesterdays appointment, we received a call from our nurse Andrea.  The Doctor who we were to meet with and discuss Cheyenne's radiation therapy was sick.  We have rescheduled the appointment for Monday @3:30.  Cheyenne then has her follow-up with plastics on tuesday afternoon and her clinic appointment then also.  Hopefully I will be able to update everyone by Wednesday.

An update-October 19, 2012

   I know it has been awhile since I last blogged.  Things have been relatively quiet, and more of a waiting game lately. 
   Today Cheyenne had her bloodwork done (looked great) and was seen by Dr Choi(plastics).  He was very pleased with the healing thus far.  The skin graft behind her left ear is almost healed.  The tumour site still has a bloody scab.  This scab must be completely healed before chemo can start.  We don't have another appointment with plastics for 11 days, so hopefully she will be good by that time.  It will probably be 2-3 weeks from now by the time her chemo resumes (she has 36 weeks remaining), but final decision is up to Dr Choi.
   We visited with Dr MacLean (ENT) who monitors her facial nerves and ear.  He feels confident that the nerve and muscles are intact but stretched and weak and thus need time to strengthen and retract.  He will be following Cheyenne closely over the next months.
   This coming Wednesday we have an appointment to meet with the Radiologist.  We were informed that Cheyenne must have radiation even though they got all of it.  We will not know any details about when, how long, how much until after this meeting.  All I know so far is that she will have to go to the JCC (Juravinski Cancer Centre) for this.
   We have really been enjoying our 'normal' time at home right now.  Cheyenne still tires more easily than usual but she is very much like she was prior to the tumour.  She has been able to spend some time at school, and she loves it.  Thank-you so much for your continued prayers for our family.

October 8, 2012

Friday, Cheyenne had her follow-up with plastics and oncology.  The results from her surgery were in.  They were pleased that they had not only got all the tumour, but they got negative margin test results.  There is still a high probability that she will need radiation therapy.  We will get the final verdict on that next friday.  Cheyenne's bloodwork was good also.  Post-op her counts had dropped quite a bit, but they had recovered by yesterday.  Dr Choi (plastics) was very pleased the healing thus far.  He changed her dressing to a very low maintenance dressing that requires no tape (she has alot of anxiety having the tape removed).  He is a very sensitive doctor to Cheyenne's feelings and needs.  So her basic dressing is aquacel ag covering the skin graft area held in place with an elastic stockinette.  The rest of her incisions need polysporin once a day. 
We do not have any dates yet as to when her chemotherapy will resume as the Plastic surgeon needs to be happy with the healing.  He has final say. 
Cheyenne is up and bouncing around and acting like her old self.  I don't think we realized how much this was affecting her. 
We are so grateful for the doctors' wisdom and experience, but ultimately we give glory to God for his guiding hand and unfailing love.
Tomorrow Cheyenne has a follow-up with Dr Maclean, the ENT specialist who was in charge of the surgery.  He will check on the nerves in her face.  Their primary concern was her eyelid still functioning to protect the eye.  We have not seen any problems.  She also has another appointment booked for Friday with Plastics again. 

We are Home!

I am glad to say that we are home.  Cheyenne was really good the past few days.  She responded well to the nurses.  She wasn't exactly excited to be sedated yesterday for her dressing change, but to be fair the last time they sedated her they did major surgery.  I can understand her distrust.  While she was sedated we took off all her stickies and IV's not needed.  They also changed her dressing.  Healing will take time and her scars will eventually fade.  She was a champ today getting her port de-accessed.  She even surprised herself "I didn't even cry". 


Cheyenne with her 'bow' on the stocking hat...we are starting a new trend!

 Cheyenne will go back friday for bloodwork and a dressing change.  The wound is fairly complex where they did the skin graft, so they will do the first few in the Plastics Clinic.  Then as she becomes more tolerable of the dressing changes, we will have the nurse Jenn do them at home.

Thanks for all who sent crafts and gifts to entertain Cheyenne.  We appreciate the thoughfulness.  And thanks to those who came for visits. 

Thanks again for all who have so faithfully and fervently prayed for Cheyenne over the past week and months.