Surgery Scheduled

Hi everybody,
This picture was taken by my Aunt Michelle when I went to my last clinic appointment a week and a half ago. I decided I wanted to lie down in the book shelf in the waiting room. Not sure what happened to all the books that are usually stored there. Aunt Michelle thought that I was being funny and took my picture.

Mommy, Daddy and I went to talk with the surgeon this past Tuesday. Grandma and Aunt Linda came too. The surgeon, Dr. Steiner, talked about the surgery and how he plans to do it. He said that he will go in just like they do when they do a c-section. He said he plans to first mark all my vitals organs, then take out as much of the tumor he can doing as little harm as he can to my organs. He said once he gets in there he may have to make some judgment calls on what to do, and said he would come out and talk with mommy and daddy before making any major decisions, such as removing an organ. Dr. Steiner said that they still don't know where the tumor originated from, so he really can't tell us exactly what he will have to do once he gets in there.

Dr. Steiner said he will then close me up and turn me over and cut me again, from the bottom of my spine to my rectum, and then take out as much of the tumor he can reach that way. He said that after he finished trying to reach the tumor from the back, he may have to then go back in from my front again, and get any remaining tumor he can reach after working from my backside. He said if there is any more tumor he left, he plans to mark it so the radiologist can then focus my radiation treatment on those areas. Mommy and daddy asked him how long the surgery will take, and he said he plans to not schedule anything else that day.

Two positive things that Dr. Steiner said -- one, that there is the possibility that the tumor is dead, and it is just a fibrous mass left in there to be removed. My onocologist, Dr. Gardner, said that part of the tumor is dead, but she thinks there are still some live cells there. We hope that when Dr. Steiner goes in, the tumor will be all dead.

The other good thing he said from the start of the meeting was that his goal was to go in and remove as much tumor he can doing as little harm as possible. He said that he felt confident that he could get some of the tumor out, he just was not sure how much he would be able to remove. We all got to see my CT scans for the first time -- we saw the first one when I was first diagnosed in February, and the one they took at my last clinic appointment. We could see the change in size of the tumor. In the first scan, the tumor filled my entire pelvic area, hip to hip. In the latest scan, the tumor was over more to one side, and filled about half the area. We also got to see where it is located, and it is very low in my pelvic area, below my bladder and kidneys. Mommy, grandma and aunt Linda are wondering if it originated from my hip muscle...

Please be in prayer...
Right now, the surgery is scheduled for next Friday, July 24th. Please be in prayer for me, especially that day. Also please be in prayer for the surgeon, Dr. Steiner. Pray that God quickens him on exactly how to approach the tumor, and that he can get it all out without damaging any of my organs. Pray that I heal very quickly, and will not be in pain after the surgery. Also, please pray for mommy and daddy.

Love and kisses to you all,
Amelya