Medical Update

After an extended Thanksgiving holiday with family in Michigan we returned to Boston last Thursday for a meeting with Emmett's doctors to discuss the results of his 11/20/12 MRI.  The MRI showed that the tumor hadn't changed since his previous MRI in October.

This is both good and bad news: good because it shows that the tumor isn't growing, bad because it demonstrated that chemotherapy alone isn't having a significant affect on the tumor.

Dr. Goumnerova, Emmett's neurosurgeon, indicated that she will not consider another surgery for Emmett at this point.  There is no way to get all of the remaining tumor out, and if they can't get everything out, there's no point to removing anything, so she says.  The stem cell transplant team was also at the meeting and they stated that they will not consider Emmett's case as long as he has any evidence of disease (even microscopically).

We were completely blindsided by this conversation.  We were expecting to discuss options to get Emmett ready for surgery and then stem cell transplant which constitute our oncologist's most hopeful path to cure.  Instead we find out that both these options are off the table. 

With the neurosurgery and stem cell teams declining Emmett's case, Dana Farber's official prognosis for Emmett is dismal.  However, our oncology team remains hopeful and has other options available.  First off they want us to look for another surgical team that will consider the surgery.  Then they have some other drugs we can try that are showing promise in other patients.  In the meantime we'll continue the supplemental therapies we've found that we believe are helping Our Brave Little Lion.

It's nice to know our doctors' thoughts, but we really only care about what God thinks.  We beg and plead that He will allow us to continue serving as stewards over one of His most precious children.  To say the very least, it is the greatest blessing of our lives.  The thought of losing that responsibility is absolutely unbearable.  Gratefully the gospel continues to bring us hope and peace.

We especially find comfort in the Lord's teachings about children (Matthew 18:1-14, 19:14; 3 Nephi 17:20-25; 26:14-16).  Clearly His love, care, and compassion for each individual child in immeasurable.  Over the last couple of months Emmett has started offering prayers (with some help, of course).  Even though he never eats himself, he's very insistent that we always kneel for prayer before meals even if it's just a snack.  Perhaps the most touching prayers I've ever heard are the ones Emmett has offered for himself, asking for a healing blessing for "et" and for his cancer to go away.  I know God hears those sincere prayers...offered by one of his sweet, precious, innocent children.

We pray for the strength to accept Heavenly Father's answer to Emmett's prayers, whatever it may be...and we continue to exercise our faith that the answer may be the one we're all hoping for.