Delayed Admission (again) / Surgery Update

We went to clinic today expecting to be admitted for round 5 of chemo, but Caroline’s immune system counts (ANC/neutrophils) weren’t high enough. We will try again in one week - very disappointing, but out of our control.

Before clinic, we met with Dr. Chung, Caroline’s primary pediatric surgeon. He commented that when he saw Caroline’s original imaging (November), the manner in which her tumor had spread and was wrapped around/attached to her organs, that her resection surgery would be challenging. So far, he is pleased with how well she is responding to treatment, and is encouraged with her progress.  Over the next week, Dr. Chung will be meeting with Caroline’s Oncology team to work up a surgical plan. At this point it sounds like there are 2 options for the next step in the process:

1) surgery to remove tumor (approximately 2-3 weeks after round 5 of chemo, depending on counts)

2) complete an additional round (or rounds) of chemo prior to surgery to achieve even more shrinkage of the tumor

The surgical goal is to be able to remove 90-100% of the tumor, so they want to make sure they are setting themselves up to be able to safely do so; 90% removal would still be considered successful, as the remaining tumor can often be targeted with future chemo/radiation, already planned in her treatment protocol.

We will keep everyone posted when we have confirmation on the actual surgical plan.

As always, thank you for the prayers and well wishes. We love you all!

The Lantz Family
#carolinestrong
#ftgf

Today, Caroline decided she wanted to sit by herself to get her port accessed...so tough...she didn't even flinch with the poke!