MD Anderson

This is a quick update on today's trip to Houston. First, I want to thank MJ for ALL her assistance in the trip!

Yesterday afternoon, Jon called me and told me that the flights had filled up. I told him to pack up his office and we were going to drive. I did not have the patience to sit in the airport all night long only to have to drive later.

Well, as it turns out, we made the right move. They ended up canceling the last flights out of DFW to Houston. But, by the time AA did that, we were nice and snug in MJ's living room eating the most amazing pizza I have ever had!

This morning, bright and early, we met with the neuroblastoma team headed by Dr. Peter Zage. It was VERY informative.

The bottom line is that he feels very strongly that our doctors did exactly what they would have done, had we gone to MD Anderson in the first place. That, alone, lifted a tremendous "did we make the right decision" weight that Jon and I had been carrying for the past months or so. He said that hindsight is obviously 20/20 and maybe he would have made different decisions if he knew about the tumor now. This is exactly what Dr. Goldman told me.

After a long discussion about our options, he did recommend that we do chemo, just as I had predicted. But, in speaking with him, Jon and I also believe that this is the right decision.

Still unbelievable to Jon and me is the fact that three doctors have now told us that chemo is preferential to surgery. I find that so difficult to wrap my head around. But, it turns out that the terrible effects of chemo are mostly (and hopefully) short-term while surgery has a lasting effect on the body. Who knew?

I swear, it was so great to have MJ there. She talked to the doctors as if Eva were her daughter. And she asked the hard questions. She asked him if there was any reason for us to leave Dallas and come there for treatment. What Dr. Zage told us was that specific to Eva's very special case, we were going to get the exact same treatment in Dallas with our doctors as we were going to get there in Houston.

So, for now, we're staying put.

What's next? Well, we have an appointment with our doctors on Monday morning. We are going to sit with them and have a heart to heart about what we believe is the appropriate course of action for Eva. What we have now is not only a vote of confidence in THEM but more confidence in ourselves to make the right choice for Eva.

Anyway, that's the recap. I'll post more after our meeting with the doctors but I have to say, I have a feeling that it will be a very long Fall! Hope you guys stay with me!