Flashback

So, looking back, things took off with such warp speed following Samuel's original diagnosis that the blog doesn't ever really fill you in on the details of what happened, what the doctors said, THEN what happened, what his treatment really includes, and ultimately the "medical" prognosis. Oopsie :) Apparently there are moments when I'm not so detail-oriented and go head on into victory mode, ha!


The Discovery. With Daddy deployed in Iraq, obviously Mom was handling day-to-day kid "management" (ie., bathing, monitoring general physical welfare, etc.). On a Wednesday evening in the tub, I noticed that one of Samuel's testicles was significantly larger than the other (quite significantly). As a female with limited understanding of how all these boy parts work, I wasn't sure if it was just some natural thing that happens from time to time - obviously not immediately suspecting a "problem". By Thursday afternoon, the "swelling" had not subsided at all, so I called the kids' pediatrician's office for their opinion regarding whether or not I should bring him by for an exam. They told me to bring him in immediately for fear that it may have been a strangulated testicle or something that required emergency surgery. Other possibilities included a hernia, a cyst, or even a tumor. Enter adrenaline burst #1. We were taken in for an ultrasound which we were later told by a resident urologist showed a large mass in Samuel's testicle. The head urologist was called in (even though by this time it was well after 10 pm!) and after a loooong wait in the ER, he came to tell us that in his 30 years of practice he had "never seen anything like it" and basically had NO CLUE what was inside the testicle. He advised that we have "urgent" surgery to visually examine and biopsy the mass because a strong possibility existed that it was cancerous. Adrenaline burst #2. It is IMPOSSIBLE to describe the flush that overtakes you when someone uses the "c-word" regarding your child. Inexplicable. Three days before Christmas, we went in for the surgery that began as exploratory under certain conditions: (a) if a tumor was confirmed, it would be immediately biopsied; and then (2) if biopsy positive for malignancy, tumor + entire contents of scrotal sac would be immediately removed. We would be kept informed at each stage.

The Diagnosis. The urologist (the department head at Children's after seeing us in the ER also performed the surgery himself) called me + Brandon's mom into a consultation room in the surgical waiting area to tell us that the mass was, in fact, a rhabdomyosarcoma (soft tissue tumor) which would mean he needed to take everything out, and he prepared us that chemotherapy would be imminent. The conversation was brief, to the point, and he was very helpful as we processed the life-altering information. Samuel recovered well from his first ever surgical procedure, and I praise GOD that first experience at Children's went so well because it set a great tone for our subsequent - and frequent - visits to the hospital, including further surgeries + procedures. Samuel's favorite part of his surgeries has been the bubble gum flavored gel the nurses put on the inside of the anesthesia masks - the trick is that yummy smelling stuff makes the kids want to breathe in deeply, thereby inhaling the "sleeping gas". We have taken each one of his masks home to share with Trinity because Samuel thought they were so cool :) Appointments were quickly scheduled for us with the oncologist and surgeries/procedures all scheduled within a week after Christmas (they were wonderful enough to let us come home to celebrate the holiday in full force before the year of changes began).

The Plan. We are blessed with two amazing oncologists, Dr. Nicholas Yeager + Dr. Bhyuvana Setty (backed up by a truly incredible support staff). Dr. Yeager explained in detail the medical side of things (occurrence rates, treatment options, morbidity + survival rates, recurrence rates, etc.). Samuel's tumor was classified as embryonal, which is less aggressive + the cancer had not metastized (spread). So, we were given a choice between 2 different treatment plans: (1) A 6-month clinical study treating with 3 drugs - one of which is a nasty nasty thing that would require additional medications to control the side effects as well as inpatient infusion each time because Samuel would have had to be on IV fluids for several days to help his body flush it out; (2) A 1-year traditional course treating with 2 drugs (same as first option minus the nasty nasty one) - outpatient treatments every week for 52 treatment weeks (a couple months over a calendar year when counting weeks with labs only). Obviously, there were serious pro's/con's for BOTH options (no pressure!), and after much discussion + prayer + consultation with Daddy via emails/phone calls, we somewhat reluctantly chose option 1 so that treatment would be completed sooner. BUT, thankfully WE are not the ones in control, and God moved in a big, bold, undeniable way.... The very morning we were to begin chemotherapy, our beloved Dr. Yeager came breathlessly into our hospital room to let me know in a very confused, flustered, even apologetic way that literally MINUTES before he personally handed Samuel's treatment registration over to the proper hands, the 6-month clinical study which had been successfully running for over 2 years CLOSED - but ONLY for one small subset of a subset of a category of rhabdomyosarcomas (into which, of course, Samuel's case "conveniently" fell). When God moves, He moves. I was excited + filled with praise, which added to Dr. Yeager's confusion I'm sure. God had made clear the plan HE wanted for Samuel, and I hadn't felt such peace in weeks! And so, after some final attempts by Dr. Yeager to figure out how it all possibly went "awry" that way, we began Week One of treatment.

The Prognosis. We are exceedingly blessed to know that God's Hand has been all over this from the very beginning. God does NOT sanction, send, or "curse" with cancer (nothing bad is of God); but God is able to take any attempted attack from the enemy + use it for Good. Everything has worked for Samuel's good, down to the slightest of details. The tumor being embryonal was victory #1. The cancer being completely localized, victory #2. The actual location of the tumor being within the scrotal sac is a HUGE victory #3 because the ONLY place on the entire body where a rhabdomyosarcoma has a medical survival/non-recurrence rate of over 97% is IN THE SCROTAL SAC. Samuel's age is victory #4 because diagnosis + treatment of a testicular rhabdo by age 5 increases the survival/non-recurrence rate EXPONENTIALLY. Samuel was 4 1/2 at diagnosis. The victories really are countless... how about even that we "conveniently" live only 15 short minutes away from one of the most reputable pediatric hemotology/oncology facilities in the world?!? We truly thank God every day for all the Good He has already worked, and all the Good we know is still being worked, so that there remains NOTHING but a tremendous life-improving Victory for us all to share in, grow from, and help others by having overcome.

A Thought...

Sometimes it's just good to treasure waking up in the morning...and kiss the beautiful loved ones who wake up with you. GOD IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME. We thank Him for that and ask that He Bless You, too, xo

Caring Bridge

So, we added another tool for keeping posted + connected during our adventure. Caring Bridge offers such a cool venue for sharing your thoughts + encouragement that, if for nothing other than the guestbook, we wanted Samuel + Trinity to know how special they are in the words of all of you who love them.

Please feel free to leave messages and check in from time to time. As always, THANK YOU for EVERYthing. You help make this such a blessed victory.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/samuelgodsey

Pool Day

We spent another afternoon at the P.O.O.L., always a good time! We are definitely noticing, however, a much higher sensitivity to sunlight for Samuel, so from now on we will surely limit direct sun exposure. He doesn't seem to be "burning", but he developed some decent dark red circles under his eyes, and we're not taking any chances. It will be a nice treat to hit the pool when possible, and we've got so many other "non-prime-sun-time" activities for being outdoors beyond that.

Non-Monday "Monday"

Because of the Independence Day holiday, we returned for another cycle of treatment on Tuesday this week instead of Monday. Samuel got doses of both chemotherapy drugs, as well as the anti-pukey Zofram. All went very well!

eating lunch with Daddy during Zofram drip

Trinity's lunch at the play table

When we first arrived, we all teamed up and built a huge tunnel out of cardboard bricks for a large red pickup truck Samuel found.

puzzle time

Later, Daddy + Samuel played video games while Trinity + Mom put together a map of the United States.

 refraining from comment about the clone heads (hehe)

Daddy got her started :)

Happy Declaration of Independence Day!

Celebrating the 4th was awesome this year with Daddy home! We spent the day hanging out with good people + having a great time. Samuel + Trinity love nothing more than a good party :)

"Hangin' out" with Daddy

Raaaa!

Trinity's favorite thing to do... water stuff :) 

cheeeeese

cool bubble container

fun with friends :)

Annual Pediatric Appointment

Okay, so it is impossible to NOT comment on this one. Saturday, we went in for Samuel's regular annual pediatric "check-up" appointment. We have a very nice pediatrician who has been great on every level, save one. It seems that since birth both of our children have been healthy, and therefore because of their height + weight differential actually measure in the "obese" area of the medical charts. Kid you not. CANNOT make this stuff up. Anyone who has ever actually SEEN our children would understand how utterly + blatantly ABSURD that conclusion is. What is most amusing (confusing?) is that our pediatrician is well aware of our family's eating + activity habits, so she knows both of them eat very healthy + are well-supplemented. Well, when one adds in the fact that Samuel is 6-months into a chemotherapy regimen, one might think the madness would ebb. Not so much. She really felt the necessity to tell us that, despite treatment + our very concerted efforts to make sure Samuel's weight does NOT drop, he is still "measuring in the slightly obese range". Is it wrong to want to walk out on your child's pediatrician? Or, at the very least give her "the look" - the look of "do you have any idea, a clue, even remotely of what we do to make sure this boy ingests plenty of solid healthy calories?!?!" Well, really, the ONLY good thing is that Daddy wasn't there to harangue her. HA! Needless to say, we came home + ATE... a LOT!!!!! And then had a great hearty laugh with everyone at Children's about the utter lack of common sense in some medical "standards".

Bigtime Playtime

A nearby amusement park called Kings Island hosted a military appreciation day on July 5th, so we brought the little ones down there for a day of FUN adrenaline + good times all around. It was extremely hot, but we had a ridiculously great time hanging out, riding rides, eating ice cream, and just loving on each other. We are SO very excited to now know that both kids are JACKED about roller coasters, and we're all eagerly anticipating next year when they should be tall enough for even MORE rides! Monday was a true true blessing.

Added a slideshow in the sidebar :)

Pukey Pukey

Tuesday morning started with a random round of puking when Daddy was getting Samuel his breakfast. Fortunately, Samuel has always been great about verbalizing that he feels sick, even just outright letting us know that he is going to puke. He really does handle it well, too. I don't remember being quite so cool about throwing up as a young child... thank God he gets his fortitude from Daddy on that front :)

The puking lasted throughout the early part of the day, a few more trips to the potty but not much left to come up. He was obviously pretty exhausted + weak, so we had a super fun chillin'-at-home/movie day - LOTS of Veggie Tales, some Kung Fu Panda (thank you, AGAIN, Aunt Zara + Uncle Michael!), Cars (thanks, Nonna!), and sadly for me, Mickey's Clubhouse (who bought that again? I do not like you. haha! jk!).

Fortunately, Samuel did not have any other symptoms of infection, and because by later on Tuesday afternoon he was already feeling much better (+ developing quite the recovery appetite), we didn't have to make any special trips to the Children's place. Yay!!!! By the time he went to bed (after one last late night chow session with Dad), he had eaten a decent amount + definitely re-hydrated with Perfect Water + sugar-free sports drink.

All-in-all, if you have to have a pukey day, we must say that it went pretty well. We're SO grateful to God that He kept Samuel from needing any medical intervention, and that Samuel hasn't felt any lingering effects!

(The pic is totally NOT from this past Tuesday, but it's such a great picture - and certainly represents the pukey pukey day well)

Splish Splash

We spent a wonderful afternoon Sunday with some friends splashing around in a super fun fountain. It's great to know other families who are right there with us regarding all the avoiding water-borne bacteria, crowded places + germs, etc. Not to mention, FABULOUS for Miss Trinity to have some for real girlfriends (she's inundated with quite enough testosterone around here! ha).

Trinity, Madeline, Lillian

Cold spraying water was definitely the perfect way to relax + cool down in the hottttt, humid Ohio summer sun! The kids made sure to photo document as much as they could...

Sun bathing beauties :)

Cute Dads :)

Weird Moms :)

Lilly was intrigued to see that I had stitches just like she'd gotten (she has the same Implantofix port in her chest for kicking the butt of leukemia)...and Maddy captured the investigation on film :)

Ohhhh, Mr. Grumpy Pants because it was time to go home!!!! The true sign of a good outing :)