Radiation

Liam is done 8 of 13 days of radiation treatments of phase 1, all without anesthetic. We still are not exactly sure how many more treatments are after that, but it probably is 15 or so more days of treatments for phase 2. We haven't gotten the final details on it yet, it's hard to get in touch with the right people over Christmas, unfortunately, they are very busy.

The iPad is right above Liam's face, Felix the frog is at Liam's feet, Liam is holding teddy and Felix Junior. Before treatment starts, all the stuffies give each other high fives, Liam runs around a bit, then gets up onto the bed. Liam uses the remote to move himself up, then he lays down and they secure the mask over his face and quickly get a show going on the iPad.

In this picture, you can see the laser lights lining Liam up to the dot on the mask. Liam loves the lasers!

Everybody is still so thrilled that Liam is doing the treatments without anesthetic, when we walk down the hall, people I've never met give Liam high fives and tell them he is a star. We are just so happy that they helped us do so! Last week, something was wrong with the imaging so the treatment took extra long, Liam was in the mask for 2 episodes of Curious George (25 mins each). The time varies, but it isn't generally be more than 10 minutes. Having Liam there for that long was definitely a test, and he sat perfectly still the whole time.

Unfortunately, there is a smell of ozone during the treatment and Liam has started saying that it is the "stinky machine", I hope it doesn't both him too much. They suggested the radiation could also give Liam a heightened sense of smell.

Liam had Christmas Day and Boxing day "off" of treatment, but otherwise we are there every weekday at 8:30.

Merry Christmas!

Pediatric Cancer in the Media

You know how once something affects your life, you seem to see more about it around. That is me with pediatric cancer. Not sure how many people would have caught the Dr Oz show today, they had Marlo Thomas on to discuss St Jude's research hospital, one if the largest pediatric cancer hospitals.

Dr Oz also interviewed a Mom and son, the son had a brain tumour when he was less than 3 years old and he is now doing wonderful. A picture showed the same scar as Liam had, the telltale sign of Medulloblastoma. The mother talked about how St Jude's research gave them the ability to do treatment without doing radiation, due to the impact radiation has on young kids, something we have struggled with immensely. She mentioned the testing that was done at St Jude's that other hospitals didn't do.

I am proud to say that our oncology team is very up to date with the latest research and did this testing as well, Liam had his disease tested for the subtype. Unfortunately for us, Liam's subtype was not the one that had a fairly high success rate with chemotherapy only. Which is why Liam is undergoing radiation therapy at the moment, to give him the best chance of survival.

The other story in the news is a woman in the UK, whose son has Medulloblatoma brain tumour. He had the tumour resected and then she took her son and went into hiding to avoid having to give him radiation. By waiting to treat him, this aggressive disease has already recurred, so he needs another surgery. This has actually now gone to courts and the court has ordered that he gets the surgery. The decisions we have to go through for treatment are horrible for a parent to have to make.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2249988/Neon-Roberts-Judge-orders-surgery-Sally-Roberts-seeks-second-opinion.html

Second Treatment Done

Liam did his radiation without anesthetic again! Today was thanks to "Curious George".

This week we go for treatments every morning, it will be the only week that we go every day because of Christmas and New Years falling on weekdays. Troy is at home, so we will take turns taking Liam in. We don't have to wake Liam up to make the 8:30 appointment, since he already gets up around 6:30 or so, but his sister sleeps longer, so it is much easier not to bring her along too. Although Liam really wants to show his sister the laser lights in the radiation room, he asks all the time if she can go too.

Hair & Eyelashes

Hair and eyelashes coming in fast.

First Day of Radiation Done

Troy took Liam to the Tom Baker Cancer Centre for the 9:00am appointment, and I dropped off Madison at a friend's so we could both be there. Liam got going so quickly that I arrived when they were finishing! It's great to get going quickly, and there was nothing I can do during the appointment, so I didn't miss anything.

I was a little nervous because Liam had to have no foods or liquid just in case he required anesthesia, and he really wanted a banana before he left home. I wasn't sure if this would be the factor that would determine how the appointment went, but he forgot about the banana, and it didn't turn out to be a problem. I'm not sure why, but Liam always runs a few laps around the room where he gets the treatments, I suppose it's good to get some "energy out". Liam got going with no problem, he watched "Max & Ruby" on the iPad while he was on the table, with the mask on.

To find out if Liam moved at all, they took a scan before and after the treatment and Liam was in the exact same position, thank you "Max & Ruby". The therapist went into the room and tried to distract Liam, but he didn't even flinch when she waved at him, he is taking his job seriously.

After he was done, Liam got to put the first sticker on his progress chart that they made him (Cars themed). The radiation team was so thrilled that Liam did it without anesthetic, we were talking about it after, and Liam just sat eating his banana, unfazed by it all.

We haven't spoken to the doctor this week, but the plan is for 13 treatments instead of 30, so this is also good news, as this would mean we finish on January 4. (We knew 30 didn't make sense... but they didn't want to confirm the number until the plan was completed) Still not exactly what we wanted to do during the Christmas holidays, but if Liam can do it without anesthetic, we can still plan on doing fun things.

If Liam does decide part way through that he won't sit still, there will be an anesthesiologist at Tom Baker every day, because there is another wonderful little boy we know, too young to go without anesthetic, getting radiation just before Liam. Liam still has his broviac line, so it makes anesthetic quick and easy, if it is necessary.

The biggest challenge of radiation is going to be putting lotion on Liam's head. We need to put lotion on the back of his head several times a day to prevent soreness, which will occur over time. (Some people get to be like they're sunburned). Liam freaks out when we even mention putting lotion on him, not meaning on anything that is sore, he freaks out when we try to put lotion anywhere. And not medicated lotion, just regular lotion, on any part of Liam's body, he freaks out and frantically tries to rub it off with a towel. When Liam was in recovery after a previous anesthetic, Troy put lotion on Liam (because it's a dry time of year in Calgary) and Liam's heart rate went up! All Liam has gone through, and he believes lotion and baths are the worst things, hmm, two my favourite things!
 

Radiation Starts Friday

It might sound crazy how often they've changed our dates... unfortunately, the doctor is just very busy. Making the radiation plan is very important, so we don't want him to rush Liam's plan.

He worked hard to get the plan done, so we'll be starting Friday morning.