Unexpected turn of events...

Well. That's one of the difficult things about cancer. It's inpredictable. So far, it's unpredictability has not been in Elijah's favor....but today, it was.

We had planned for two more intra-arterial chemo treatments (well, that's what we were told to expect.)

We had loosely planned to stay in NY for 4-6 weeks, encompassing this treatment.  Today, we got some great news. Elijah responded very well to the chemo. 3 of his tumors are gone-just scars left.  The other 3 are just scars with some cancerous tissue remaining. So, he is not totally stable as far as all tumors under control, but he is in much better shape. I think normally they would have gone ahead with the intra-arterial chemo....but the challenge in Elijah's case is the location of his tumors. One is very close (1/10 of a mm) to his central field of vision and one is very close to the optic nerve.

Right now, Elijah's only options are laser treatments and IAC (the special chemo).  Both carry some risk to his vision....and since he only has one eye, we need to be cautious.

SO! No chemo this time. Dr. Abramson treated with laser today, and then we will determine what's next at the next exam in four weeks.  We may do more chemo then, depending on the possible growth of the tumors, or the development of new ones. Or! He may continue to respond well and we can manage things with laser.

Seeing as how we didn't have the treatment we thought, as well as subsequent follow-up as we do with the IAC.... We are going to head home.

I don't think any of us are ready to face the drive back to California just yet. But, Ben needed to come get me from the Ronald McDonald house. It was nice-the kids got to play in the playroom, have "science time", and we ate dinner at the house.  A lady came and taught how to make crafts out of pipe cleaners.  They really have something special going on at Ronald McDonald house NY.  It's amazing and I'm so thankful my kids got to experience some of it. We packed everything up and cleaned the room.

Tonight, we are staying at the Holiday Inn on Staten Island. (The same one we stayed at before.) Maybe just tonight...maybe another night. Just depends on when we recover enough to head home. Thank you to all who have prayed for us and thought of us.

In spite of the amazing good news for Elijah, all of the stress and unknowns and change of plans and so many other things (like driving and parking in NY) have taken a toll on us all. (Did you catch that? They've taken a "toll"? Hahahaha.)

Good night y'all.....