An Update and a Request

So here is an update of what has happened since Jordan relapsed...

We originally were told Jordan's relapse was isolated to a few spots on her skull that had been impacted at diagnosis. A bit later we found out there was bone marrow involvement as well. Jordan did two rounds of high-dose cyclophosphamide, topotecan, and vincristine in the hospital at Morristown...and had fever hospitalizations following each round (one lasting almost two weeks...brutal). Jordan handled the chemotherapy fairly well but started to experience some treatment side effects...blood in the urine and elevated kidney tests. These side effects seem to wax and wane a bit but are not a problem at the present.

The next set of scans at the end of July showed the bone marrow cleared but the skull spots were unchanged. Jordan moved on to a super-high-dose chemotherapy regimen of ifosfamide, carboplatin, and etoposide at Morristown. Again, Jordan had a subsequent hospitalization for fever but tolerated the chemotherapy fairly well with minor treatment side effects...low phosphorus levels so she is on an oral supplement.

Jordan started scans last week and the preliminary results showed the skull spots still unchanged. We will not get the bone marrow results until later this week and the MRI is scheduled for tomorrow. The plan for this week was to start a medium-dose chemotherapy regimen at MSKCC and make plans for radiation to the stubborn skull spots.

Craig and I were incredibly disappointed that all the chemotherapy had failed to treat the skull spots but were determined to enjoy the Labor Day weekend with Jordan and Craig's parents at the shore. And we did a very good job of enjoying and relaxing until Jordan woke up with a swollen eye yesterday. The swelling went down within a few hours of waking and did not seem to be bothering or impacting her so we decided to hold off on any ER visits.

This morning we were terrified when Jordan woke up with a completely swollen shut and puffy eye. We met with the doctors at MSKCC and the presumption is that the cancer is causing the swelling. Jordan's type of neuroblastoma is so aggressive that it is possible to have visible signs of progression even though the scans five days ago showed stable disease. They also said a small amount of growth in the skull can cause a large amount of inflammation.

Jordan started irinotecan and temozolamide chemotherapy today at MSKCC and will continue it through Saturday. The MRI is still on for tomorrow and were fortunate to get an appointment for the radiation planning session for tomorrow as well...this will allow Jordan to start the radiation treatments on Thursday. All of these treatments will be done on an outpatient basis...yea for no hospitalizations.

So here is my request...

Please pray for Jordan. I am praying that the MRI shows minimal progression and I am praying that the combination of radiation and chemotherapy will heal her cancer. I am praying for Jordan to have the strength to fight this disease and for Craig and I to support her the best we can. The radiation doctor feels the radiation has a strong likelihood of effectively treating the disease...which is encouraging because we really need this to work.

And a quick apology too...

I am sorry that I have not done a better job of updating the blog. Jordan is so fortunate to have people who care about her enough to read this blog and I should do a better job of keeping it current. This relapse has been difficult to handle and the thought of writing about it has been intimidating but we are going to try to do better.

And Jordan?

Despite everything she is doing wonderfully. She laughs and plays and dances and reads and is simply a joy to be around.