Inconclusive

Wow - this is an interesting turn on this roller coaster. We have been harboring some secret hopes of a differential diagnosis - something along the lines of a bone infection - stories of which a handful of NB families have shared with us. But, since I have been getting such DIRE information from clinic - I didn't even put those hopes out on this blog, but we've held them close and we've been watching Hans' slight IMPROVEMENT in the use of his arm and his DECREASE in his need for pain meds, and we've been scratching our heads that this doesn't exactly reek of Recurrent NB, Part 2.

Yet, up until today, we've been told all signs point to NB. We were told on Tuesday that the pathologist was 100% sure it was a cancer/90% sure it was Neuroblastoma.

Today - we sat through an office visit with an incomplete pathology report. We debated open clinical trials, excited at the news that the Aurora A Kinase Inhibitor Phase II trial opened TODAY. We also debated a couple of other trials, and the benefit of starting therapy with a known effective therapy - such as Irinotecan/Temodor. Kevin and I had been asking about this Bone Infection theory - but we kept getting "NO" as the response.

And then, on the way home, the phone rang. The Pathologist had given up looking for cancers! No stains matched. Not Neuroblastoma, not Osteosarcoma, not Lymphoma. The samples did not indicate leukemia. A second opinion was sought by a Children's Oncology Group Pathologist. This pathologist noted that the cells in the sample were not dividing nearly fast enough to be an aggressive cancer such as Neuroblastoma! So - they are retracting their statement that this is 100% a cancer. The plan is to do an open biopsy and go from there. One possibility is that they are NB cells, but that they somehow got damaged in the process of obtaining the biopsy??? Anything could happen with this biopsy from: diagnosis Neuroblastoma, to some rare bone infection to: no known cause???? Wild. But, we'll take it!

Today Hans had a CT Scan and a Bone Scan. The CT was NORMAL. The Bone Scan appeared normal to the docs but hadn't been signed off by Radiology. That is - normal with the exception of the large right arm bone that lights up indicating the trouble we knew about it.

Well...that's where we sit. Don't know when we'd get in to do an Open Biopsy...don't know if we'll get the green light on starting back up with the next Round of ABT751... don't know what we'll find in a biopsy... don't know and for the moment don't care to know. I'll take the uncertainty and the hope that goes along with it.

Thanks for the prayers, and the love, the emails, texts, calls and everything. Thanks for the NB families that shared their crazy bone anomaly stories that have given us this hope.

Every day is an Adventure. Every day is a gift.

Lara