|
Welcome to Richard Brett's Web Page. It has been provided to keep people updated on his health. Richard Brett was diagnosed with Stage V Bilateral Wilms' Tumors on September 23rd, 2002. He started chemotherapy within the week. On December 12th, 2002, he had his right kidney removed and a quarter of his left. He continued with chemotherapy until February 27th, 2003. His MRI's have shown "no evidence of disease" ever since. Since Richard Brett's Wilms considered "inherited" (only 1 % of all Wilms" are his type) he has a highter chance of secondary tumors so he continues to have an MRI, chest X-Ray and full blood panel every 3 months.
Journal
Thursday, December 28, 2006 8:18 PM CST Well, it hsa been a very long 2 weeks but this afternoon we received the greatest gift...NO EVIDENCE OF DISEASE!!!
Two weeks ago, December 13th, Richard Brett had his 4 month MRI. This is the first time I felt pretty good about it. The IV went in on the first try. We had an afternoon appointment so Richard Brett was able to drink clear liquids until 9:30 am so he was fairly well hydrated. When he has a morning appointment he can't drink after 6:30 am and he usually isn't up by then. They gave Richard Brett a different type of sedation. It is called Propoval. He is supposed to wake up much faster than with the other drug. Once again, procedural changes made this an adventure. Instead of going to the recovery floor to get ready, we went straight to MRI and got prepped there. Since this is a different type of sedative, they didnt put him out until he was strapped on the MRI bed. I wasn't allowed in the room but was able to watch from outside. I could tell he was a little frightened but the Dr. that was with him was very comforting to him. He has never been awake when going in for an MRI so I am sure it was a little scary.
The MRI itself took about an hour like normal. When he came out, the Dr came to talk to me. She asked me about his snoring and how long it has been going on. I told her he has snored for a few years. His pediatrician had talked to us about removing his tonsils and adenoids. After a consultation with the ENT specialist, we decided to wait and hopefully he would grow out of it. Well, he hasn't. This Dr (the new cheif of pediatrics at the hospital) also thinks he might have sleep apnea. He has a lot of the signs. She kept having to move his head around during the MRI because his snoring was rattling his chest and interfering with the MRI. She wanted me to contact his regular pedi to have him evaluated. He has an appointment with the specialist January 3rd.
The day after his MRI, his oncologist called me to tell me Richard Brett's kidneys looked good but I could hear a major "but" in her tone. She said they saw something near his liver. She took it to the tumor board and also consulted with his surgeon. They felt it was not tumor related and thought it might have been his bowels laying in the wrong spot. They said it would be very unusual for Wilms' to skip past the kidneys and move to the liver. They wanted a CT scan just to be sure.
Unfortunately it took a full two weeks to get him in. We went yesterday afternoon. He did so well drinking the contrast. I think he was just grateful to get something in his belly. When they took him back to get the IV in, they couldn't get it started. The poor nurse felt so bad and decided after the 3rd try, not to continue. They would try the CT and hope the oral contrast was enough. I told her not to feel bad because Richard Brett had notoriously bad veins.
After the scan, they sent Richard in to stand with me while Richard Brett was still on the table. I asked him why they let him in with us and he said he wasn't quite sure but they said "go and be with your wife and ask your son to continue being still". I could see them all looking at the monitor with concerned looks on their faces and it scared me. Then one of the tech's came in and asked if Richard Brett had every had any surgery. Duh...yes, he was missing his right kidney and a quarter of his left. They looked immediately releived! They told me that his Dr would have access to the CT that day so I called the clinic right after we left. Our regular oncologist was on vacation but they left a message to have the other one call with the results. I was hoping to receive news that day but they didnt call until today. The oncologist said everything looked stable and he didnt see anything out of the ordinary. The final report wouldnt be ready for a week but everything looked good and he would call if anything came up. Good enough for me! What a long two weeks.
Richard Brett never even questioned why he had to go back in. We just told him the first picture was fuzzy so they needed a better picture and he just accepted that. He is the most amazing boy with an incredible spirit.
Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts!!
Read Journal History
Links:
|
|
