Beckham went in for tests to get see what effects the last 6 rounds of Chemo has had on the Cancer.
They first checked his hearing. One of the side effects of some of the stronger Chemo's is that they can cause some hearing loss.
The tests came back showing a loss of hearing in the higher ranges. They say that Beckham will need hearing aids. This came as a shock to us, we haven't noticed this with Beckham. This news was heartbreaking.
The Next day they did a MIBG scan. For this test they have Beckham drink a juice that they call Contrast. Whatever is in the drink will get sucked up by the cancer and in the scan areas that contain the contrast will light up really bright and show where are the pockets of cancer are hiding. For the scan they need Beckham to be really still. For kids they will usually give them meds to put them to sleep.
After the MIBG scan while Beckham was still sleeping they rolled him over to Surgery and did a Bone Marrow Aspirate. To do this they stick a large needle into his hip bone and suck out some bone marrow. They do this in 2 locations. On his rear, to the left and right of his hips.
The next day the doctors met with us to share the results.
The scans showed that the cancer had shrunk but not as much as they would have expected. There was positive news... the bone marrow test showed that the marrow was clear of any cancer.
This news was a shock. It's hard to describe the feeling hearing that type of news.
The doctors recommended that even with the cancer down to the levels that they would like to see they would still recommend moving to the next phase and that would be the Stem Cell Transplant.
Stem Cell Transplant is a very hard round of chemo that knocks the bone morrow down so far that without "rescuing" it by injecting healthy marrow. The body wouldn't have the strength to grow back marrow on its own.
A child that goes through this process will typically be in the hospital for a full month. It's a very tough experience.
We started to mentally prepare for this possibility. There is hope of a different outcome... Next week we are flying our to New York to Memorial Sloan Kettering to get a second opinion.
- Posted from my iPhone
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