Gracie's 10th EUA

Today Gracie had her much anticipated monthly EUA.  She was very pleasant as usual.  She and I entertained the kids and parents waiting for their surgeries by playing unicorns, then cats and dogs, then Chihuahuas, etc.  While we were making a birthday dinner, our doctor walked into the waiting room and she said, "Look Dad, there's Dr. Gumballs!"  Sure enough, it was her doctor and we spoke with him for a bit.  She headed happily back to the OR with the rest of Dr. G's staff.

The procedure was not as long as it is sometimes and 45 minutes later we sat down to speak with him.  Stephanie and I both thought it was not really promising when he started with "Let's start with the left eye ..."

Dr. G explained that the left eye looked really good and the two tumors that had started there were probably both dead.  He lasered one of them again just to be sure and expected to diligently follow any potential for problems in those areas.  However, overall the eye looks really good and no problems are anticipated there.

The right eye was a bit of a different story.  He showed us comparison pictures from one month ago and from today.  It was obvious that there was significant growth in one of the tumors.  This tumor was the one first seen last month.  It is growing far from the optic nerve but still must be stopped.  We knew from last month's discussion that the next recommended treatment was the removal of the eye.  Dr. G briefly discussed radiation treatments but was cautious in making those recommendations as radiation is often associated with secondary cancers or with future problems in bone/muscle development in the area radiated.  We had already come to the decision that we would not radiate the right eye previous to the appointment.  We had several questions regarding potential effects of additional chemotherapy treatments.  Dr. G explained that any of the approaches he knew about (and that we knew about) had not been too successful with previously treated eyes- like Gracie's right eye.  He recommended that we think about it, weigh our options, talk to Dr. M (our oncologist) and get back to him.

We were pretty confident in the decision to remove the right eye, however, asked Dr. G and Dr. M to speak about Gracie today and than get back to us.  Dr. M did call and spoke with Stephanie.  He strongly recommended enucleation of the right eye.  He too spoke of the dangers of radiation and problems with additional chemotherapy.  Enucleation is very serious but it has relatively few future health concerns (besides losing part of your vision forever).

We have felt and immeasurable amount of peace and confidence throughout this process. The decision to enucleate is still very difficult and not taken lightly.  However, we are excited to remove Gracie's cancer.  That thought brings an abundance of relief and comfort.

We will fill everyone in on more details as we find them out.  I just wanted to quickly post and let everyone know what happened today.  We thank you all for your love, prayers and support.  We have truly been blessed because of them.