Preliminary biopsy results...

Well, it is not good. From the preliminary pathology report it looks like Kaelyn cancer is back. Her biopsy went as planned, but she is in a lot of pain. I guess anytime you meddle with the lungs, it is pretty painful. She is doing better this morning than she was last night, but deffinitely not herself.

Here is the plan for the next week. She will go in for a chest x-ray this afternoon and if that looks good they will take out her chest tube (that was used for draining the biopsy site). Tomorrow we will just let her rest and recover. Monday she will go through a series of tests to check her heart and kidney function. Tuesday she will most likely go through another attempt to place the internal bile drain. It is imperitive that we get this working. If we cannot get the liver functioning well she will not have many choices for chemotherapy. Most of the chemo used is cleared through the liver. If the liver cannot process the drug it will stay in the body and cause a whole lot of nasty things I don't even want to think about. Also on tuesday the tumor board will meet to discuss Kaelyn and treatment options - the final pathology results will be in by then.

Dr. Thomson, Kaelyn's primary oncologist, stopped in to her room last night and talked with Wade and I. The treatment of recurrent cancer is far more intense and because of this more side effects will come. The treatment will probably take about 6 months to complete. She also talked about how if the liver will not tolerate the chemo, we will not have many options. It was a very hard night last night. But Dr. Healey, Kaelyns transplant surgeon, was a bit more optomistic for the liver. The livers function itself is good. We just need to get the bile draining more adequately to alleviate the inflammation and possibility of infection. So he gave us more hope. She will be highly suseptable to infection and virus' because of her immunosuppression and then adding chemo on top. I am sure we will be in the hospital a whole lot more this time around.

There is so much information that was given to us. I will update as often as I can to keep you all up to date on her progress. This sunday, March 6, we will be holding a special fast for Kaelyn. If you would like to participate. Please keep Kaelyn in your prayers. I know that God lives and he loves us. I also believe that miracles still exist and can be granted if it is His will. This is my prayer, that Kaelyn will be given a miracle from her loving Father in Heaven.

Love to all,

Angie

Biopsy Scheduled

Kaelyn's lung biopsy will be on Friday, March 4. They are also going to try and place the internal bile drain at that time.

Love to all...

Angie

Latest CT Scan news...

Kaelyn went in for a CT Scan today. Unfortunately they saw two little nodes on her left lung that were not there before. The plan right now is to do a biopsy and see what the results are. I don't know when the biopsy will be done, but I am thinking it will be soon - probably within the week.

Her AFP (alpha-feta protein) levels have been going up, which is a sign that this may be a relapse of the lung metasteses. Please keep our angel in your prayers.

~Angie

Update on Drains

Well, unfortunately the internal drain was not able to be placed. Kaelyn's bile duct walls are too thin in result of the inflamation and a possible infection. The external drain is still in place and they will retry the surgery in a few weeks after her ducts have a chance to strengthen up. If they are still not successful with the interventional radiology method (inserting the tube with the guidance of ultrasound) they will possible do a more invasive surgery to try and place the drain. Hopefully the next time around all will go well.

We have been in and out of the hospital a lot in the past few weeks for various reasons, but Kaelyn is doing very well. She seems to feel pretty good. And she looks awfully cute carrying around her bile bag in a pretty pink Hello Kitty backpack! What an amazing girl she is!

She also is featured in an ad campaign for Seattle Children's Hospital. Her mug is on the home page of www.seattlechildrens.org. If you click on the link next to the picture it will bring you to a larger version of the photo. The man with her is the head of the transplant program at Children's and is very involved with her care. It was pretty fun have her in her first "model" shoot! She is deffinitely a natural, as long as her pacifier is alon for the ride!

Love to all,

Angie

Promising News...

Hello everyone,

This past week Kaelyn has undergone two surgeries to place drains into her bile duct system. Right now they are internal/external drains, meaning that Kaelyn has a tube coming out from her tummy area draining into a bag. On Wednesday, Feb 16 she will go back in for another surgery to try and place an internal drain from her bile ducts directly into her intestine. The surgeons have given us promising news about this. They are hopeful that we may be able to save her liver and not have to go through another transplant! That is the most wonderful news! They think that the liver function has been hindered by the dialation of the bile ducts, and ever since the drains have been placed her numbers have been getting better and better. So, if we can get this internal drain to work properly to reduce the inflamation and blockages in her bile ducts she will not have to have another transplant! What a miracle sent from our Father in Heaven. He is watching over our daughter and sending blessings in all forms.

We will update after the surgery on Wednesday. Love to all!

Angie