EUA#15

EUA #15 means that my baby girl has gone under general anesthesia almost 20 times when you include MRIs and surgeries. Although for one MRI she did just have conscious sedation but I'm not including that one in my tally. It's quite a lot considering she's only 4. All went well during the exam. Dr G is officially done lasering the tumors in the remaining eye. Lasering increases her risk for vision threatening conditions like detached retina and glaucoma so he doesn't want to do it any more than necessary but it is still the least risky treatment available. She also doesn't have to go back for 3 months! That makes 3 EUA's in a row where our frequency of visits has been decreased. We feel so free! This thing is really truly behind us, at least as much as it ever will be. The genetic nature of this cancer makes it so we'll have to be ever vigilant in screening her. It's a diagnosis that lasts a lifetime. She is such a little wonder though. She never ceases to amaze me with how positive she is. I can learn so much from her.

Gracie's little brother also had his EUA done on the same day that she did. As he was only 5 weeks old this was his first time under general anesthesia. I'd been nervous about that for a long long time as we knew it would be required if we had any other children. Since he's so small and has reflux they had to intubate him for his exam. He woke up with a very sore throat, but other than that he did just fine with the anesthesia. While he was under they drew his blood for his genetic tests. He's due for another EUA in 2 months unless we receive genetic clearance on him before them. If his RB1 gene is negative for Gracie's mutation then there is no need to do any further EUAs. Here's hoping Retinoblastoma Solutions (the lab in Toronto) gets that test done FAST!