Home from Cycle 5 / 1st Day of 3rd Grade!

Caroline was discharged from Vanderbilt yesterday morning. Other than her broken finger, she had a relatively uneventful week of treatment. She has a follow-up appointment with her orthopedic surgeon at Vanderbilt on Tuesday, as well as her usual Friday appoint at the oncology clinic for labs and a check-up. 

She rested up at home on Sunday to get her energy back for Monday so she could finally join her classmates, who started last week (she is in a year-round school, and is now officially in 3rd grade!).

We appreciate all the UberEats gift cards, tasty homemade treats, meals, gifts and all around generous support from our friends and family 💛.  Although we are BEYOND grateful for her most recent scan results, this is a very mentally and physically draining experience.  Our whole family is exhausted, and there is still such a long road ahead...but the kindness, love, prayers and support from Caroline’s army is sustaining us.

As always, we are so grateful for her care team at Vanderbilt; they are unwavering in their attentiveness and love towards Caroline, and make this very difficult time as pleasant as can be.

Just a reminder that there is still a national blood shortage - please donate if you can (click here to register in your area)...we're thankful to all our friends and family that have recently shared pictures of themselves giving in Caroline’s honor!

The Lantz Family

#carolinestrong

#ftgf

Ways to help:
Meal Train
Purchase #carolinestrong T-Shirts
Contribute to Medical Expenses via GoFundMe
Family Meals via UberEats (email to margaretlantz@gmail.com)

Homeward bound!

Recovering at home...

Ready for 3rd Grade just 24 hours after getting home!

Scan/Biopsy Results...Cycle 5

All the results are now in from Caroline's scans and biopsy last week:

1. CT Scan: No evidence of lesions previously seen
2. PET Scan - No evidence of lesions previously seen
3. Bone Marrow Biopsy - No evidence of Neuroblastoma cells 
4. Blood Work - All in normal range as of 7/19/22

This is all good news, and so far the treatment seems to be working. There is always the possibility for microscopic disease that doesn't show up on these scans, so Caroline will continue the repetitive treatment cycles/scans as long as her body continues to tolerate it, and we continue to get positive results (in theory, 17 cycles total).

Thank you for all the prayers and well wishes...we still have long road still ahead, but are encouraged by todays news!

Caroline was able to start her Cycle 5 chemotherapy/antibody this morning, and we are hoping to be finished early Sunday morning. 

The Lantz Family
#carolinestrong

#ftgf

Tough, unexpected Start to Cycle 5

Caroline was scheduled to begin her 5th treatment cycle for relapsed Neuroblastoma this morning, but was unfortunately sidelined for the day due to an unexpected injury in the parking lot at Vanderbilt. As we were unpacking the car for our week-long stay, Caroline somehow closed her pinky finger in the car door.  We were able to get the bleeding stopped while in clinic, but her care team ordered x-rays once we were admitted, which revealed a small fracture in her bone.  She ended up needing "bedside surgery" with local anesthetic to completely remove, repair and replace her cracked finger nail.  She'll be in a splint for a bit, and will also be treated with antibiotics this week to prevent any infection.

Her chemotherapy is now scheduled to start tomorrow (7/18), so hopefully she will be able to come home by Sunday afternoon.

Caroline is uncomfortable, in a bit of pain and bummed about her splint restrictions, so please pray for quick healing and a relatively uneventful rest of this week.

Additionally, we are still waiting on some final reports from her scans/biopsy last week, so once we have all that information we will post everything related to her scans on this blog.

In the meantime, thank you for all the continued support!

The Lantz Family
#carolinestrong
#ftgf

Continued ways to help:
Purchase #carolinestrong T-Shirts
Donate Blood in Caroline's Honor
Contribute to Medical Expenses via GoFundMe
Family Meals via UberEats (email to margaretlantz@gmail.com)

All stitched and wrapped...rough day!

X-Ray when she was admitted.

Prepping for "bedside surgery"

Cycle 4 Update

Cycle 4 is complete and Caroline is settling in at home. Although she receives the same chemotherapies and antibody each time, all four cycles have been a little different with regard to side effects. During this cycle, Caroline really, really struggled with nausea. We’re so grateful to have an amazing medical team to care for her and adjust things as-needed. Thank you to everyone for continuing to pray for us!

Wishing everyone a safe and Happy 4th of July! 

The Lantz Family
#carolinestrong
#ftgf

Adios Cycle 4!

Getting a new NG tube inserted (often comes out when C throws up)

Weighing in on Rounds with her team

Thanks, Michelle - the patriotic decorations were a hit!