Wonderful News!!!

This is the little boy we want back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holy! 11 days, 4 scans, 2 surgeries (at one time), 1 round of Chemo and numerous labs later, we have the most WONDERFUL NEWS!!!!

We got our biopsy results back from NY today and it showed that Lukas is NOT HIGH RISK!!!! He has, most thankfully, been demoted to Intermediate Risk, which basically means that he went from a possible 70% chance of not surviving to 85-90% chance of SURVIVING!!!

WOOOHOOO!!!!

The biopsy they sent out was to check and see if the cancer gene had extra copies of the MYCN gene (amplified). If it did, we would be high risk, the cancer would be really hard to kill and we'd have a really long hard battle in front of us. Since the tests came back negative (not amplified) we now have a much easier cancer gene to fight and the battle is down to about 3-6 months. We are going to do 3 more rounds of Chemo and then if we need to do surgery to remove the head tumor, we'll do it then. If it's still too big, we'll do a little more chemo and then surgery or (hopefully) it will disappear with the additional chemo. But that should be all the treatment we'll need. Of course, we'll see how Lukas does and how his body and the cancer react and make any necessary changes, but I have to say, right now-it doesn't get much better than that!

Thought you all could use some good news!

We also had our MIBG scan and Visual Evoke Potential tests today. The MIBG scan is a nuclear scan. Lukas was injected with a radioactive dye yesterday, then the scan is performed 24 hours later. The dye is supposed to attach to this particular type of cancer cells and then glow on the scan. He had a whole body scan to show exactly where the cancer was so that we could go back later in treatment to see our progress. The Visual Evoke Potential test had something to do with goggles and making sure that Lukas' vision was affected by the tumor and not nerve damage (forgive my lack of understanding and explanation on this test!)... Don't know when we'll get results back on that. Also, he had his first blood transfusion today and took it like a trooper. He's still sore and on Morphine, so we can't go home until his pain is manageable with Tylenol/Codine or equivalent drug. So we'll just be waiting on him to get feeling better!

Visitors: Lukas is still going to be on Chemo which still means no immune system. No matter how much I love you and miss you (or how much you love Lukas and miss him!) you are not allowed around him if you are feeling the least bit down and crummy!! I still don't want kids around him for now with the flu season and colds running rampant. You can be upset about that, but get over it please! I want Lukas to realize his full potential of making his 85-90% chance of recovery and getting him sick could very well jeopardize that! If you are feeling well, call and we'll figure out a time for you to visit.

I know that Heavenly Father has a great life in mind for our sweet, precious little Lukas. I told Kurt tonight, he has been a miracle from the start and we get more and more glimpses of it each and every day. Thank you, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU, for all of your prayers, support and thoughts every day. Please keep up the prayers for Lukas and his doctors and nurses! I just have no other words to show my gratitude and thanks and awe in what you have all done for us. It leaves us speechless. We are more than thankful-there just aren't words to describe....

Love-us
MacDonnell Crew