Monday, July 28th - Biopsy and CT Scan

Monday, July 28th, 2008 - We arrived at the hospital at 8am, and after waiting around for 25 minutes, Pete called Betsy Moran, the RN in the Pediatric Surgery ward. Five minutes later we were on our way to the ward. Mattie was scheduled for a bone biopsy of the right humerus as well as a CT Scan of the lungs to determine if the cancer had spread to the lungs.

After Mattie took some liquid containing Midazolam (an anti-anxiety drug also known as Versed), he was happy as a clam, watching Happy Feet on one of the center's portable DVD players and hanging out with his buddy Jenny, one of the art therapist from the Clinic, and Linda Kim, a Child Life Specialist, who normally handles the kids who are in-patient (i.e. stay at the hospital at least one night while under a treatment program). The Midazolam helped Mattie deal with the scary things that were going to happen to him, and we were pleased that he handled everything without getting upset or traumatized.

Linda brought with her a "Startlight" welcome bag complete with cool shades, a cup, pen, notebook and a sign-my-name pillow all contained in a neat green bag. The Starlight Program is specifically designed for kids who are dealing with any kind of serious and life-altering diseases/traumas. We need to learn more about this program, but Linda did provide us with a registration form, so we will go investigate the program. Jenny brought Mattie a Pirates of the Caribbean fold out book that expands into a 3-D play book complete with cut-out characters. So he was doing well in terms of preparing him for the day's activities.

On hand for the Procedure was quite a grouping of docs: Bob Henshaw came over from Childrens along with his lead Radiologist, Dr. James S. Jelinek, along with Dr. Allison Lax (a Pediatric Radiologist who performed the biopsy and CT Scan), Dr. Jivan, the Anesthesiologist who were quite wonderful and two additional Radiological Nurses. Dr. Toretsky stopped down during the procedure as well. The team reviewed Mattie's MRIs and the good news so far is that the cancer appears to be contained to just the upper portion of the humerus, but of course we need to check the rest of the body. Mattie went under general anesthesia (the agent used for the general anesthesia was Sevoflurane, and he had Propofol in addition to the Tylenol 3 and the Midazolam) so he is taking some time to come out of the fog and haze.

The Biopsy results are expected within three to four days and we already have a follow-up appointment with Dr. Toretsky on July 31st. The initial look at the cells from the biopsy practically confirms the clinical diagnosis of osteosarcoma, but we'll wait for the confirmation. The preliminary bloodwork looks good but we may need to do some follow-up work. The CT Scan was a little obscured so we may need to do another CT Scan on the lungs if the docs require it as we want the clarity and confidence. Last up in terms of the staging activities (i.e. the diagnostic tests requires to properly assign a stage for Mattie's cancer) should be the bone scan that is scheduled for August 1st (Friday), during which we will hopefully confirm that the cancer is not present in any other bones in the body.

For now, we will try to return to as much of a normal routine as possible. We need to be careful with Mattie's physcial activities because of the tumor in his arm, Mattie could break the bone quite easily if he plays rough. Mattie is now is reluctant to use his right arm all together so we just have to be aware of this whenever he moves.

Debbie Pollak, his art teacher from St. Stephens, is trying to accommodate Mattie's schedule this week to allow him to participate in a few days of the art camp that he was enrolled in this week. Bob Weiman, the Head of the Lower School at St. Stephens, has offered any help that he can, so we are once again surrounded with helpful and caring friends. Thank you Debbie and Bob!

Please keep your fingers crossed that this cancer has not spread to anywhere else. If the cancer is only isolated in his arm bone, then we are still looking at a year of chemo and surgical removal of his arm bone, and we would not have to worry about additional diagnostics or treatment regimens and a brighter prognosis.