Moving Onward

Shayla had a busy day today: First lab visit to have platelet and hematocrit levels checked--all looks fairly good for this time between chemo. We are set to start Round 6 this Thursday.
Second, we saw Dr. Beck today as a follow-up and she was pleased with the shrinkage of the tumor. She could scope much farther than she had been able to do up till now.

Dr. Beck said Dr. Cherney brought Shayla's case before the tumor board last Wednesday, but neither she nor Dr. Chang were able to attend due to being called on emergency (Dr. Beck), and being out of town for her own family emergency (Dr. Chang).

A new note of information is where Dr. Beck believes the tumor started--actually in the lower part of the sinus, just to the side of the nose, so no, not in the medial bone of the nose as I had previously blogged. This is probably even better since it is further away from Shayla's eyes. However, Dr. Beck still does not know what kind of margins are needed up above the tumor to make sure no cancer comes back. When I told her of my meeting with a person who had undergone proton beam therapy for retinal cancer and still has her vision, she acted surprised. She admits she doesn't know a lot about the proton beam radiation therapy, so we have to defer to Dr. Dorn's (apparently the radiology oncologist on Shayla's team, don't know about the name spelling) expertise.

I suggested to Dr. Beck that Jase and I need to meet with all the heads working on Shayla's case so we as a family can be a part of the decision-making process. She agrees. The hard part will be getting all those minds together at the same time!

Shayla is doing tremendously well. She has been experiencing some gum pain 'underneath' her right lower set of teeth. But, she just saw the dentist last week and all looked well. Will need to keep tabs on it as we head into chemo.

Remember the heel pain Shayla had a few weeks ago? Well last weekend Shayla showed me how her skin on the right heel just separated (as a dried blister splits away from the new skin underneath). The whole pad of her heel had indeed been a blister! We cut away the skin so she wouldn't have irritation or friction from the skin. Her feet appear as if they are 'molting' for lack of a better description! The underskin looks healthy, and there is no pain involved, just old, dead skin peeling off and leaving new, soft skin behind. Weird, but not uncommon according to another friend who is a cancer survivor.

A long day for all of us (Shayla's youngest sister had to be taken to the ER today for a concussion, but she is fine now, eye exams and driver's training for siblings, lab and ENT visit for Shayla, time with friends, too). We are all exhausted, so here is where we close for today. Goodnight!