Easton had his MRI under anesthesia on Friday and his exam under anesthesia today. The experience was difficult, but we received great news after both: the cancer has NOT spread beyond his eye, and it is only the one tumor in his left eye.
Our oncologist and retina specialist at Cook’s have given us a couple options. It’s been incredibly overwhelming and our heads are still spinning with information. Here are our choices as of right now:
- Intravenous chemotherapy for 6-8 months combined with laser therapy directly to the tumor under anesthesia. This is traditional, systemic chemo and would most likely be done at Cook’s in Fort Worth.
- Intra-arterial chemotherapy for 3-4 months – this is a newer procedure that targets chemotherapy directly to the eye by wiring a catheter to the artery that carries blood to the retina. With this treatment, we could potentially avoid some side effects of traditional chemo such as lowered immune system and hair loss. This is only done in a few places in the US and would be done in Philadelphia or Houston.
Easton’s first experience under anesthesia went well. We checked in around 6:30am. Our Rooted facilitator and pastor at Compass, Kayla, met us at the hospital and prayed over Easton (she’s pretty incredible, right?). We were in the prep area for about an hour or so, then we were able to go with him and watch him go under. He fell asleep quickly so it wasn’t that bad, but I still cried and remained a nervous wreck throughout the MRI. Both grandmothers came to support, and we got a surprise visit from Uncle Brevig! He drove all the way from Austin to be there for the MRI and spend the weekend with E. A couple hours later, we met him in recovery and were able to snuggle and give him a bottle. He was fussy and disoriented, but after about 45 minutes he was back to normal. No nausea, no side effects at all really. Later that day, the oncologist called and told us that his scans looked great and the cancer had NOT spread beyond his eye! Praise the Lord.
The exam under anesthesia today was a little more difficult. We had to start with eye drops, and these are really rough. They aren’t painful, but Easton just hates them. The nurses say they don’t like giving them either, because babies just scream and squint and are miserable. So, from that moment, the tone was set and E did NOT want to be in that room with those people. This time was different in that we were not able to watch him go to sleep. Because he was pretty fussy and it was clear that he would have some separation anxiety when they took him away to be put under, they gave him some nose spray that irritated him at first, but then had him completely relaxed within a few minutes. It was actually hilarious – he was laughing harder than I had ever heard at absolutely nothing. Just feeling REALLY good. I was in tears from laughing so hard at him. It was a quick exam. The retina specialist took pictures of the tumor and “graded” it on a scale of A-E, E being the most advanced.
Here’s a video of the effects of the nose spray. This was just the tail end of it, and some of the silent heaving is hard to catch – he was laughing SO hard for 5 minutes straight. Even though it’s sad that he had to be drugged out of his mind, it was a nice change of mood and the comic relief we needed after the exhausting morning we’d had.
While Easton moved to recovery, the doctor visited with us right away and told us that his was a group B tumor and that he felt he was a great candidate for the intra-arterial chemotherapy in Philadelphia. Because the tumor is only in his eye and appears to be unilateral (only one), he felt that systemic IV chemo could be avoided by targeting the medicine directly to the tumor. Scott and I like the idea of foregoing traditional chemo and all of its potential side effects, so we’re willing to explore this option. We heard from the doctor around 9:30 this evening that he had heard back from Dr. Shields at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, and she agrees that he is a great candidate for IAC. We’ll call in the morning to schedule an appointment, which we anticipate will be sometime next week. Off to Philadelphia we go!