We are still waiting for our final biopsy results. There is a central organization called the COG (Children's Oncology Group) that decides if we have enough specimen to do dna and other testing to correctly determine Gabrielle's stage (3 or 4) and risk level (Intermediate or High). If they determine that what was sent is sufficient, then we can plan on starting chemo shortly. If, however, they decide that we need more specimen we will need to do a more invasive surgery to get more tissue from the tumor. If that happens, we have the difficult decision of where they take the specimen from. It seems the general concesus that if we need to do surgery anyway, we should go in through her back and remove as much from around her spine as possible. This would also delay chemo as she would need to heal completely before starting (perhaps another two weeks).
Not sure if I mentioned that we moved from Sparrow in Lansing to Devos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids. It's a little more difficult being further from home but we feel that being in an all children's hospital and specifically an oncology floor is beneficial to Gabs care. A huge thanks to our amazing family who has been coming to visit and help us here.
We are currently praying for all of our outstanding tests and scans to come back negative. NMYC amplification (dna type testing of tumor), CT scan (looking at lungs and lymph nodes) and bone scan. If all are negative, she will stay at Stage 3, Intermediate Risk which is basic chemo with possible surgery in the future. If any one of these tests come back positive she is bumped into Stage 4, High Risk which includes not only chemo but also, radiation, antibody therapy, bone marrow transplant and possible surgery. It is a completely different treatment and we are praying hard for the former.
Thank you again to all who are following her progress and praying for healing. We believe that God can do miracles and purge her body of these abnormal, harmful cells!