Karly's Cancer Update - 3 years later

Karly & I drove down to Children's Hospital in Milwaukee yesterday for one of her routine visits with the oncology team.

Would you believe it has been:

• 3 1/2 years since she was diagnosed with cancer (Nov 2007)
• 3 years in March since she finished chemo
• 3 years this month since she finished radiation treatment

Amazing.  It does seem like a lifetime ago, but still ... it also seems like it JUST happened.   (If you're new here, I wrote up a brief recap once of Karly's cancer journey.)

Anyway, they no longer do CT scans on Karly, but they do ultrasounds (to minimize additional radiation exposure).  The ultrasounds were all great!   They're tricky though -- one requires her to have eaten no solid food since the night before, and the other she has to drink a TON of water so her bladder is full.  So as soon as she's done she has to use the restroom -- and then we have to eat!

After a quick lunch, we were off to get her bloodwork done.   She's such a pro -- she doesn't even need me to go back with her.  It was very quick, they just drew one tube to check electrolytes and minerals.  Would you believe her electrolytes were great?  She was very hydrated ;)

The number one thing they look for with the bloodwork is her calcium level.  The type of tumor she had presents oddly -- with high levels of calcium.  That was their first big clue that it wasn't a benign teratoma (as we were hoping), when the tumor was first found and treated.

So yesterday we met with the after care team.  It's called the "Next Steps" clinic, and for children like Karly -- who are done with treatment and looking good and moving forward.  We met with a nutritionist, psychologist, social worker, and a nurse practitioner.  They all think she's doing great.

It was interesting, too -- they gave me a little business card sized summary of Karly's treatment history.  Now we know what her total doses of chemo and radiation she's been given and can share that with doctors in the future.  Not sure when it will come in handy ... but it's interesting.  

We knew already what side effects to watch for from the chemo, and the only 'red flag' we've hit so far is with cardiology.  One of the chemo drugs is notorious for causing issues with the heart.  At Karly's last echo (in January) the cardiologist said her heart is okay, but the vigor of the pump is not the same as what it was at her previous echo.  For now, it only requires a watchful eye and follow-up care.

So, yesterday was a long day, a gray and rainy day, and thankfully very dull.  I love it when we get through a whole day of clinic and there are NO SURPRISES!