Dear Family and Friends,
Amelia was released from the hospital on about 20 October. She couldn't come home because she was required to be within 15 minutes of the hospital due to her low resistance and need for immediate medical intervention in case of infection. So she and Allison moved in with Aunt Eileen, who lives just outside the Baltimore Beltway. Within a few days she had a fever and was back in the hospital. All went well and she was back at Aunt Eileen's by Sunday. Then it was back and forth to the hospital every few days for lab work, diagnostic testing and evaluation. The doctors were pleased with everything and started the wheels rolling for the next adventure.
Amelia and Allison were up in New York the first week of November for the doctors at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center to run their own battery of diagnostic procedures to confirm the findings from Johns Hopkins that Amelia's cancer is in remission. Remission sounds a lot better that it really is. It means that they can't detect any signs of active cancer, but it doesn't mean that it won't be back. The next courses of treatment; immunotherapy using a monoclonal antibody to get the body's own immune defenses to attack neuroblastoma; radiation therapy to prevent the disease from regrowing in high-risk sites in the body, and administration of isotretinoin (also known as Accutane and cis-retinoic acid) to cause the cancer cells to behave like normal cells, are all directed towards ensuring that it doesn't come back. It will be a few years before we know just how successful all of this has been.
Amelia and Allison finally moved home on Friday, and on Sunday Lorraine and I took them up to New York where they will spend the next two weeks while Amelia receives the first round of immunotherapy. This will go on for some time, initially in five week cycles. They are staying at the Ronald McDonald House on East 73rd Street, six blocks north of the hospital and a pleasant walk (in nice weather) for Allison. At other times there is a shuttle bus, but walking in NYC is faster. We expect they'll be home for Christmas, but Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve will be in New York.
For those that want details, here's a link to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering website and a description of the specific treatment that Amelia is receiving.
In December, in between immunotherapy, we expect one or two weeks of radiation therapy in Baltimore or New York. They do it a little bit differently at each location, and although both ways work, Allison is still weighing the pros and cons.
Please keep the Hantske family in your prayers.
