Let's Bring Y'all Up to Speed

It has been 3 weeks out of the hospital with a pause on chemotherapy while Kameron awaits his tumor removal surgery. Kam has used this opportunity to work on eating ALL the snacks and milkshakes and putting some weight back on. He also spends a lot of his free time finding really funny cat videos. Chemo has been hard on him and makes him super sick. The first week he was off, he ended up with a pretty intense superficial skin infection in his feet and that nearly landed him back in the hospital. Fortunately, we were able to manage with at home wound care and oral antibiotics 4x a day. His infection has thankfully since resolved. 

Kam petting our dog Harley

Kam has since had a whirlwind of pre-op appointments, labs and tests while we have been waiting for his surgery. He needed new (up-to-date) scans of his lungs and of the tumor in his leg. The good news is the tumor in his leg has shrunk! According to Kameron's orthopedic oncology surgeon this is an excellent prognosis for him, as it confirms his tumor is responding to the chemotherapy medications! Some tumors are resistant and do not respond to chemotherapy. It was reassuring to learn he wasn't having to go through all this hard treatment for nothing.

The bad news was we learned Kameron has lung nodules. The number one place that osteosarcoma likes to spread is the lungs. Obviously we had a lot of questions, as the radiologist noted he had "3 to 5" unchanged lung nodules. His scans in April had been read as normal, so this was certainly news to us. After Kameron's oncologist spoke to a third radiologist (who had not read his previous images) we learned that an adult radiologist had read his initial scan. Having a few tiny nodules on an adult scan is within the range of normal. However, a pediatric oncology radiologist would look at these tiny nodules and note them as they may or may not be concerning for metastases (spread). Kameron falls right in the middle of whether or not to be concerned (based on his age, cancer type, and demographics). The oncologist will be reviewing his case further with the tumor board, and we are waiting to hear if they will recommend any more things to do then repeat scans in a few months to monitor them. Kameron's oncologist feels these tiny nodule are likely too small to remove or even biopsy. They are favored to be non-cancerous given their appearance. However, that isn't completely reassuring for us, as we were initially told Kameron's tumor probably wasn't osteosarcoma as it didn't look like it either. The positive part is that these nodules, whatever they are, haven't changed.

Meanwhile, Toby and Noah (Kameron's youngest two little brothers) were able to attend sibling camp at Camp Rainbow Gold this week. Sibling camp is for the siblings of local kiddos with cancer. Toby is currently there. Noah came home on Wednesday after an amazing 4 days and had the time of his life! He is begging to go back next year. I keep learning, every time he talks to me about it, of all the amazing things he got to do over those 4 days. I am not sure how those wonderful people can pack so much amazing into 4 mere days! We have been so grateful for this opportunity. 

Toby and Noah at Hidden Paradise Ranch. Home of Camp Rainbow Gold.

Kameron's surgery is scheduled this next week in Boise, Idaho at St Luke's Hospital on Monday, July 19th 2021. We check in to the hospital at 10:30 am. He will start at the cancer clinic to get his port accessed and then he will go through pre-op. The surgeon plans to resect the tumor and replace it with metal and cadaver bone. Ultimately his surgery will appear similar to a knee replacement, but we are told he will keep his patella (knee cap) bone. The surgeon says we are praying for a good necrosis rate (this means cancer cells that died from chemotherapy) and negative margins (meaning they get every last salt sprinkle of the cancer cells in the leg). He will likely be in the hospital a couple nights. He estimates that he will hold chemotherapy 3 more weeks, before Kam starts post-surgery chemotherapy again.

We are all ready to get rid of this tumor! Please join us in prayer for all of these things. Pray that Kameron's pre-surgery COVID test on Saturday is negative. Pray that Toby has a great time at the remainder of his camp. Pray for Kameron's upcoming surgery: a high necrosis rate and negative surgical margins. Pray for his surgeon and surgical team-- for steady hands, no complications, and for no infection to occur. Pray for those lung nodules to be nothing and for momma to stop feeling worried about them. Pray for our family as all of this has been hard. God is good and we are trusting Kam to him.