In April, because there was a small tumor that had popped up and treated with cryotherapy, Dr. Weiss--her Opthamologist at Children's Hospital--wanted to see her back in one month. That appointment was today.

Additionally, Amelia has had recurrent ear infections ever since radiation (no one can tell me for sure if it is just a coincidence or not). Yesterday she was seen at the Ear, Nose, Throat Clinic at Childrens and they recommended that she get tubes in her ears. Our pediatrician had been talking about it for a few months now so it wasn't a surprise. It worked out well that she had an EUA today because the Ear doctor was able to add just a few minutes onto the Opthamology appt. and get it all done at once. The great news is that there didn't seem to be any pain afterwards and they said that she will likely hear better since there won't be any fluid behind the ear drum. Best of all, the tubes are really supposed to cut down/eliminate ear infections...and with these new "advanced" tubes, we don't have to put ear plugs in for swimming or bathing like parents used to do.

Really the best news, however, is that there were NO ACTIVE TUMORS in her eye this month. Yea! They all appeared to be dead so there was no treatment. We (Mike, myself, and the doctor) all were so relieved because we didn't know after last month if there would be a whole new crop of them--meaning that radiation wasn't really effective. The doctor pronounced that it was a "boring" visit today. We like boring. Boring is good.

Even better news is that because this is essentially a baby cancer, with each month that goes by she is less likely to get new tumor growth. Dr. Weiss said we have about another year to really watch it and then the likelihood of reoccurance is almost nil. 

We're just hoping to keep the vision she has and possibly even have it improve. I can't remember if Mike wrote about this in the last journal entry but she was recently tested and currently sees 20/500 in her remaining eye (20/200 is legally blind).  Which means she sees big objects/shapes/colors but no detail. At this level people often use canes, guide dogs, read braille--but that's okay. We are just so thankful for the vision she has...AND so thankful that Mike has Microsoft insurance that has covered it all. We just figured out that radiation (Dec/Jan)alone ended up being over $100,000...Out of curiosity, I'll have to sit down at some point and tally it all up.

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers,
Gail