One-Year Scans: Thomas Remains Cancer Free!

December 23, 2021: Thomas Remains Cancer Free!

We received the call from the Oncology Office this morning that Thomas continues to have No Evidence of Disease 14 months after his final chemotherapy treatment! We thank God and proceed with celebrating Christmas together this year instead of apart. 

I have struggled at times this week making an idol of desiring a "Norman Rockwell Christmas" in comparison to what our Christmas looked like last year. 

• Our tree only got put up yesterday and it is not decorated two days before Christmas.
• We have not finished sending out Christmas cards. 
• I have not finished purchasing gifts for extended family. We have not made hoped-for plates of cookies for neighbors. I have not had time to purchase any gifts for our own kids and am only "covered" because the new puppy is their Christmas gift.
• Chris and I only yesterday planned our Christmas meal yesterday and it is going to have to be necessarily simpler this year.
• We have had to cancel all the Christmas social festivities so far this week due to a common cold running through the house. I'm not even sure if all of us will make it to Christmas Mass this year.
• This morning, at least I was going to bake and decorate Low-Sugar Sugar Cookies with the children--yay! making memories!--but I ended up having to visit the car mechanic and the dentist for an emergency procedure. 

But I am reminded that all of these licit desires pale in comparison to what is important: celebrating Jesus' birthday, being together as a family, and not being on the brink of death. 

Thank you for all your prayers. Thomas's next cancer scan will be in six months.

And on a related note, it was a joy to receive love from the staff at Levine's Children's Hospital yesterday. While in Nuke Med, the PICU nurse who took care of us last year on Christmas day shift saw Thomas's name on the roster and came to visit him. During the scan, Chris and I ate lunch at the hospital-based Panera, where, as soon as we walked through the doors, the manager shouted out, "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Lauer!" Later while we were in PACU, three other nurses who heard that Thomas was on the floor came to visit. Normally, the anesthesiologist who worked on the patient comes to see Thomas in person in recovery, but instead the Head of Anesthesiology came to visit, all because I had emailed him personally a few days ago with questions about how do handle anesthesia now that Thomas has a diagnosis of reactive hypoglycemia. Dr. P--- had emailed me back detailed instructions within 24 hours and now he wanted to see Thomas in person, to make sure that his team had checked Thomas's glucose throughout the procedure, and make sure Thomas came through okay. On our way out, the PACU nurse who was escorting us (an old nurse-friend!) let two available elevators pass us by just so she could keep chatting with me longer and get a little tearful as we compared last Christmas to this one and talked about how Jesus is the focus.

December 22, 2021: Please pray for Thomas's One-Year MIBG Cancer Scan

We are soon to leave to take Thomas into the hospital for his one year MIBG Cancer Scan.  For the first year after the end of his treatments, he was scanned one every three months, with this scan being his fourth scan.  Assuming this scan is clear, for the second year, he will only have scans every 6-months (at the 18-month and 24-month mark). 

The process for these scans involves injection of a radioactive material and a 2-3 hour scan while under general anesthesia to keep him still.

Thomas's oncologist said that for his particular type and biology of cancer, his chances of relapse were the highest at the 9-month scan.  We are happy to be passed that 9-month mark, we remain prayerful with each scan ... and will probably feel like we are walking on egg shells for the rest of our lives.

Thomas remains such an inspiration.  He is so excited to go to the hospital to see all his "friends".  He complains so little with all of the pokes and prods that have come with this diagnosis.  I pray more than anything that I would have the faith of this little child.