As much as Christine and I are anxious to have the doctors here arrive at a definitive diagnosis for Amos, we are respecting the process. The nature of this practice of medicine is not as certain as episodes of "House" or "Grey's Anatomy" would lead people to believe. It is a painstaking process of elimination and comparing and contrasting to known ailments. There are a few things that we know for certain. First, Amos has abnormal cells in his blood and bone marrow. Second, he has a number of tumors in his neck, chest, and abdomen. Third, something is restricting his production of mature red blood cells and platelets. On the bright side, his bone scan yesterday showed that there are not any tumors in his bones, which was a legitimate fear. A recent test result that was searching for Lymphoma came back as a negative result for the most common form, which does not necessarily rule out a more rare form. However, this also does not point us in any certain direction other then eliminating that particularly common form of Lymphoma. I know that this can seem frustrating, but we are starting to garner a greater understanding for just how laborious this process that his doctors are undertaking really is. As we move through the most common forms of Leukemia, Neuroblastoma, and Lymphoma the hunt for a certain diagnosis now is broadening to include illnesses that include non-malignant tumor causing syndromes and diseases as well. While this can seem comforting to hear, we are sure not to get our hopes up too much. The word "cancer" comes with a stigma and a fear that when the discussion of a possibility of non-cancerous situation arises it can feel like better news, but even non-malignant ailments can be just as dangerous as cancers. So the hunt continues, and still we wait...
^Some more good news is that as he recovers from his surgery and begins eating there is a good chance that they will let us bring him home while we wait. With the help of the diligent care of a home healthcare nursing company we could wait out the diagnosis in the comfort of our own home until more results come in this week. To Christine and I, who've been sleeping on a pull-out hospital twin bed for the last week, that sounds like a little slice of heaven. We are also convinced that our golden retriever, Murphy, has magic healing power as well, wink wink. In the photo above, Christine consoles Amos, and you can see his fresh little belly scar and his broviac central line.
^"Rest up, buddy. Soon enough we will get answers, and you will need your rest for the battle against whatever it is that is ailing you." -Daddy.
