Just a quick update…

When we got to the hospital today we got a call from Sharon letting us know that Jack’s CT was totally clear and normal!  His head, neck, abdomen, chest, and pelvis were all scanned and they were all clear.  Perfect news!

Jack headed back to get his MIBG around 11 and it only took about a hour which is good.  We went back to go see him in recovery and he woke up well after having to get some additional labs that weren’t done while he was asleep.  Dr Maze is out of town so we had a different anesthesiologist and we loved him.  He is amazing and so good with Jack so we couldn’t have been happier.  We got to see the amazing team that is in Nuclear Med as well as our favorite nurse in that department, Angela.  It was all around a good day.  Jack woke up, had his juice and popsicle and then told us he wanted to get out of there so we did.  With a quick stop at Toys R Us and then In and Out Burger (both his requests) we are now home and patiently (Haha!) waiting to hear the results from today’s scan.  I doubt we will hear today but you never know!

Keep the prayers coming!  NED!!

Ok folks, we are getting ready to take off for day 2 of scans.  Yesterday went really well and Jack was very happy about only having to do the CT scans but not too thrilled about having to put an IV in. He put up a bit of a fight when it was time to hold his arm out, but once they started he didn’t even know it was happening.  He did really well with the CT and picked out a prize after….a stuffed bat that he wants to take to clinic on Friday to scare the nurses.  He thinks it is just so funny that he would do that!

We had to wait around for about a hour before he got the injection for the MIBG so we sat and ate some lunch at the cafeteria and visited with our favorite person from Child Life, Amanda.  Jack is very shy now in front of all the people at the hospital that he used to be so outgoing with and I am not sure why.  Maybe he feels like if he gets too close he will have to go back??  Not sure.

Anyhow, we go in this morning first to the orthopedic to see if we can take his boot off or at least see how his bone is healing from his attempt at flying.  Hopefully he can take it off and get back to playing more outside because I know he misses it.  After that we will be checking in and getting another IV done before his scan so Dr Maze can give him anesthesia.  We saw Dr Maze yesterday…he is such a nice man.  He tickled Jack and made him laugh, told him he loved him and just how cute he is.  He is so good with him.  Of course he asked me about my whole family that he knows because he really does care about everyone.  The MIBG should only last about a hour or so and then we will be heading home and I will turn my ringer up as high as it will go and hold it close to me until Dr Eshun calls and tells us, “I have good news for you!  You don’t have to worry…he is fine!  It’s Jack afterall!”

Please keep the prayers coming!!

Well Dr Maze and the wonderful Mary from Radiology have set Jack up for new scan dates.  He will be getting his bone scan injection on Tuesday the 23rd of August followed by the actual bone scan and then the injection for the MIBG scan.  Wednesday will be the MIBG scan and the CT scan.  So now Dr Maze will be there, Mary will be there, and our favorite Radiology nurse Angela will be there.  We still haven’t heard back about the hearing test, but I have a feeling it will be done on Wednesday.  I definitely need to bring a little something in to all of the dept for all that they do for us.  Mary and Dr Maze always get us in when we need to get in and they wouldn’t have it any other way.  Both of them are amazing!

Braden is still battling the head cold and Jack is getting better as each day goes so it would be great if we could get out and actually go swimming or something this weekend!

Start your prayers now that all goes well in August!

Ok…here we go!!

CT scan: negative for disease

Bone scan: negative for disease

MIBG scan (scan that detects Neuroblastoma cells): negative for disease

Bone marrow: negative for disease

So, Jack is free and clear of all cancer!  Jack took on Neuroblastoma and he won!  Can you believe it?!  We saw the original MIBG scan today and it was covered in cancer and now it is clear as day!  Funny story for our friends who know our “11″ history with Jack…we were in room 11 today!!  So cool!! And today adds up to 11…and he was in bed 11 for recovery for both days after scans!!

It has been 14 months, 1 week, 4 days, and approx. 20 hours since we were told that Jack had Stage IV Neuroblastoma cancer and he has fought a big fight and won.  He has stayed so positive and always told us that he would do this and he was right.  We are so very excited and happy and overwhelemed right now that we don’t really even know what to do!

Where do we go from here??  Well, next week we will most likely get his tubes out!!!!  Woop woop!  Then we will go back in a month to see Dr Eshun and get a urine test and blood draw to see how everything looks.  We will then go back in 3 months from now to get scans again to make sure this monster isn’t trying to come back.  We will continue scans every 3 months for the 1st year as well as urine checks every month and then we will spread it out to every 6 months after that for 5 years.

Other news:  Jack’s thyroid function is a little low so we will be adding a medication to his routine but it should be able to be fixed soon.  He also has to have another hearing test to see where he is at with that.  I am not sure if it’s even possible, but it seems as if his hearing is getting better than it was a month ago.  He hears things that I don’t so either my hearing is going or his is getting better!

Braden’s cardiologist appointment went great yesterday too!  His hole still getting smaller and he doesn’t have to go back for another year for a Echo and they think it will just close on it’s own now.  Another big woo hoo!!

So I am pretty much blabbing and I have no clue what I am writing…all I know is that you all need to go out tonight or stay at home if you want and say a big Thank you God and cheers to Jack tonight!!  I know we will be!!!  More to come tomorrow…after my brain can actually function again!  I am sure there are things I am forgetting to talk about, but like I said, my brain is not functioning at all!

On the way to scans:

Sharon and Jakers:

Jack and Dr Eshun:

All of us and Dr Eshun (don’t mind my face!)

Sharon, me, and Jack (giving his “hat’s off!)

Day 2 of scans…done.  We woke up Jack again at 5:15 AM and right when I woke him up he said, “Let’s go in your room and have breakfast in bed”  Once we got in our room and I got him settled he decided to tell me, “You know you shouldn’t wake me up until it is sunny outside.”  He is so right, but we do what we have to do.  We made breakfast and he ate it up before the cutoff time and then around 10:00, Zac, my dad, Jack, and I headed off to PCH.  We were greeted by one of our favorite radiology nurses, Angela, and of course Dr Maze.  ”A” was doing Jack’s bone marrow biopsy today so she of course came in the room and Jack got a huge laugh out of her.  It always makes me happy when we see all of these Dr’s and nurses bring such a huge smile to his face.

We went in to the CT room and Jack and Dr Maze got everything ready…set up the machines and then Jack sat on the table and helped again with the Propofol.  Once Jack was asleep, we went and grabbed a quick lunch where we were met by our friend Sue as she was volunteering today at PCH.  We chatted for a bit and were also able to see some of our favorite nurses from when we were inpatient for chemo.

We headed back to the radiology waiting room and waited and waited.  I started to get a bit nervous because I felt like the MIBG was taking a bit long and made a comment to my dad and Zac that I hope they weren’t having to take additional images because they found something wrong…within a minute later Angela came out and told us, “I didn’t want you to worry that we were taking additional images or anything but we are on a new MIBG machine and for some reason it is a lot slower than our old one.”  Funny that she had the perfect timing so my nerves were calmed again.

Once Jack was done we were back in recovery with another favorite recovery nurse, Beth, and of course Dr Maze.  He said that Jack did wonderful and we are all anxious to see the results.  Since Jack has been on Accutane his skin is a bit sensitive and the tape that was on his face holding down the tubes and such while he was under causes some irritation so he looked as if he had been in a hockey fight.  Poor little guy.  He woke up a bit irritated that his face and his biopsy points on his hips were sore but once we were home he was totally back to normal.  We have had a great night and even though tomorrow will be a long day of waiting, it will be a good day.  We have Braden’s cardiology appt in the morning and then we will take the boys out to do something to pass the time.  We will update you after we know the results on Friday…

Please pray as hard as you can that Jack has clear scans.  He has made it this far and we thank God that he has done so well. We want him to continue on this path so we need clear scans.

On a side note, thank you all for your texts, emails, messages, posts that wished me a happy birthday.  It was so sweet to hear from so many people!  Thank you so much and may my biggest wish come true Friday morning….