Day 28

Natalee had a follow-up appointment yesterday with her surgeon, Dr. Sanjay Krishnaswami. He felt like Natalee was recovering well. He had some concerns before the surgery that she may have scoliosis because the tumor was in the back area and was actually pushing on her spine. However, he feels like that isn't anything to worry about now, so great news. He definitely wants her to gain some weight, and Sherri says that Natalee is finally getting an appetite, so bring on the milkshakes & high-caloric foods!

They were also able to visit with her oncologist, Dr. Olsen, as well. She had some pretty exciting information. At our last visit, Sherri told Dr. Olsen that she felt inspired that Dr. Olsen needed to contact research centers in Arkansas & Pennsylvania. I remember the look on Dr. Olsen's face when Sherri said that - a combination of "I-guess-it-can't-hurt" and "is-she-crazy?"

Surprising only to Dr. Olsen, she announced that when she contacted Arkansas Children's Cancer Clinic, she learned that they are doing some breakthrough research on RCC with a drug that is being used in India & Europe. She said that Sherri's "premonitions" must be right. Dr. Olsen is going to be very active following this new drug, and she was very excited about it and will consider using it to treat Natalee. It is important that we get Natalee started on her treatment right away, so she'll start taking the Sunitinib, keeping our eyes on this new drug.

Clarification: Originally when we were learning about Nat's treatment options, we were told that RCC did not respond to traditional chemotherapy. While that is still true, the drug Sunitinib is still considered chemotherapy. Generally, the term "chemotherapy" refers to treatment of disease by chemicals, and is mostly used to describe cancer treatments. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.