Neuroblastoma is Genetic

Because of the Unknown Son's battle with Neuroblastoma, we try to keep abreast of new developments in treatment. So, we were pretty interested in this news piece. A group of researchers have identified a group of genetic markets that predispose someone to getting the disease. Since both the Unknown Son and his cousin had the disease (and it's rare to see two cases in the same family), I like to think that the samples they took from them played some small part in the discovery.

You can read the news story and see a video segment that ran on the news here. It highlights John Maris, who may be the country's (and possibly the world's) most prolific Neuroblastoma researcher. Since he spearheaded Unknown Son's treatment at while we were at CHOP, we were glad to see him mentioned.

It's too early to see how this discovery will change Neuroblastoma diagnosis or treatment, but learning more about the genetic basis of the disease can only help. And it's pretty cool.

Some Disturbing News

The Unknown Household just got some disturbing news. As I just wrote, Unknown Son has had some stomach issues lately. We thought it was just severe constipation, but we has an additional scan done today just to be sure.

The ultrasound revealed a mass of approximately 2 inches in length near his right kidney.

Unfortunately, without further tests, we can't tell if this is a recurrence of his original cancer, a new cancer, or just a benign mass. So, we go in for more tests tomorrow - an MRI, a bone marrow sample (he's mildly anemic), and a consult with his local oncologist and a surgeon. After that, we will likely have a biopsy on Friday or Monday. Until then, we won't know much, so it's still early to panic.

We're big believers in the power of prayer. So if you have a minute, send one up for us.

And we'll keep you posted.

More Good News On the Cancer Front

As I've mentioned previously, the Unknown Son was diagnosed with neuroblastoma shortly after his 4th birthday. He was successfully treated at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City, and Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. We believe he went into remission about 3 1/2 years ago (see this previous post for more details, and an explanation why we can't say exactly when). But, since there was still one spot on his leg that showed up faintly on the scans , we continued to go to back to CHOP for quarterly checkups. We were fairly sure that it was a ganglioneuroma rather than active cancer, but we still had to play it safe.

We just got back from the latest checkup. This time around, U.S. had his first totally clean scan. So, we can be a lot more confident now that he's in remission.

Nice to get an early Christmas present, eh?