Having to decide about putting Jesse through surgery was not easy. Mike and my main objective was to completely agree with each other. When I talked with Uncle Jim, he suggested sitting down and writing out the pros and cons. This was an invaluable idea.
Here is the list
| Pros | Cons |
| Remove some of the tumor | Could die on the operating table |
| Lessen the chance of tumor rejuvenating | Could cut a blood vessel |
| 13 hours of surgery | |
| 2 days at least in ICU on a ventilator | |
| Weaken her body when facing high dose chemo | |
| Painful recovery | |
| The size of the incision | |
| Open her body only to decide they can’t get anything | |
| Not get the 1 cell that is the cell that will rejuvenate |
This list helped Mike and I completely agree that we couldn’t do this to Jesse. If she was acting poorly, they could get all of it, or she absolutely had to have this for survival, we could justify the surgery. But Jesse’s MYCN gene is not amplified, she is still acting like she feels good most days, they can’t remove all of it, and her tumor has shrunk by 50%. Maybe, just maybe with the help of the other treatments… her body will reabsorb it.
So our next stop on the journey is for the high dose of chemo and stem cell transplant.
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Please help support childhood cancer research. To sound like the guy who promotes for feeding kids in poverty stricken countries… $1 will help a doctor/ researcher find a piece of the puzzle. This piece add with all the others could lead to conquering cancer. Or save another child/ family from going through this nightmare.
Please visit St Baldrick’s event in Williamsburg, Va for more information about how you can donate or help.
Thank you!
Mike and Soosan,
Not sure if we would ever want to have to make the difficult decision that you did, but am sure that you reached a decision together after alot of talking. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of your family right now during this very trying time. Please keep us posted on anything that we can do to help and looking forward to helping out at the event on the 7th! Say hey to Jesse and Chris from us.
Mike, Cindy and Biscuit (woof, woof)