We found out our appointment times for Monday ... we have to be at the Duke Children's Hospital at 9am this coming Monday morning for Isaiah's pre-op appointment. They'll draw blood and check his vitals (pulse, breathing, etc.) and probably have more paperwork for us to fill out. This is all for Isaiah's surgery on Tuesday where a port-a-cath will be put in his chest in preparation for chemotherapy. After pre-op, we'll visit Duke's Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Department, visit with Isaiah's Oncologist, Dr. B., and have the chemotherapy process explained in detail.
Isaiah will most likely start chemotherapy on 2-3 February, once the pathology report of the spinal fluid comes back cancer free. As I mentioned in an earlier post, if there are cancer cells in Isaiah's spinal fluid, a chance that is highly unlikely given the stage of the Retinblastoma when his left eye was removed, Isaiah will have a stronger regimen of chemotherapy. From what I understand, this is because the Retinoblastoma cancer will have become metastatic and can spread more easily into the Central Nervous System and brain.
I did ask Dr. B what if cancer cells are missed in the lumbar puncture. Dr. B explained that if the cancer spread into Isaiah's body from the removed eye it will be present in his spinal fluid. In the rare chance that a couple cells are present and missed in the lumbar puncture, chemotherapy will kill them. My intent isn't to sound negative - simply to explain what the doctors have told Erica and I - all so you have the same understanding.
On a different note, I've been home for the past 2 weeks taking care of Isaiah and of course Erica and Baby Sarah. My taking care of Erica and Sarah basically translate to getting Erica anything she asks for, making dinner when friends don't bring it by, and keeping the house clean. My mind doesn't do so well sitting at home, that is when I'm not doing the previous mentioned things and playing with Isaiah. I've started planning a fish aquarium, day dreaming about how to redneck my truck up more, playing endless games on my cellphone, watching daytime TV (*put gun barrel to head), and getting an early start to gardening. I put in a garden in our backyard last year and planted tons of vegetables ... all which died last August when I went away on business. This year Erica and I decided to plant wild flowers. Low maintenance and provides Erica flowers to pick throughout the summer. I decided to get an early start today - I bought a bunch of flower bulbs and berry bushes. I bought the wildflowers last week. They'll have to sit inside until it the danger of frost leaves. I'm done with my rant. Because of this I've come up with a list of things I can do while I'm still off from work ... all thankfully involve yardwork.
I've been looking into getting a team together for Relay for Life, a fundraising event for the American Cancer Society. Each team has about 10-15 people, all responsible for setting a monetary goal for the ACS. The relay takes place on 1 May throughout the country, usually from 7pm to 7am. The beginning of May may conflict with Isaiah's chemotherapy, so I may simply decide to donate instead of participate. If Erica and I decide to put a team together we'll look for team members to participate in our area of North Carolina - if you can't participate then we'll look around for your pledge of support. I got the idea from another father's blog, who's daughter is also battling Retinoblastoma. Please stay posted for more news.
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