Tomorrow's A Big Day!

Tuesday will be a big day for our little boy.  

He'll have surgery to implant the port into his chest, which means two things: 1] no more needles in his arm, and no more ouchy I.V. in the top of his hand; and 2] he is ready for chemo! 

In fact, Pablo will start chemo  t o m o r r o w  afternoon!  

The docs are ready to start delivering that proverbial can of whoop-ass to the tumors, and we are happy to let them.

A bit more detail on his chemo regimen:

• Pablo will have chemo treatment here at Childrens Hospital LA once a week for the next 18 weeks.  

• At the six week mark, Pablo will get another CAT scan to determine if the tumors have shrunk and hardened.

• If the tumors have shrunk and hardened, they are in the optimal state for removal.  (Wilm's Tumors are, in layman's terms squishy and prone to breaking apart when the docs go in with the knife. The chemo gets them into the cutting zone.)

• Removal of tumors, for Pablo, means he will probably lose one of his kidneys - the one with the largest tumor.  As someone who never had to know too much about kidneys, I am happy to have learned that a person (our son!) can live a perfectly normal life with just one kidney.  Jo Ann and I saw the CAT scan today, and the tumor is so large, you can barely see any kidney. This tumor is up to some vicious stuff.

• Alas, if all goes perfectly well (this is where YOUR positive love and light comes in!), and there are no unforeseen hurdles, he will be free and clear 21 weeks from tomorrow. 

OK, that's the update for now.  We don't have an exact time on the surgery, so keep your heart rays flowing all day.