Hepatoblastoma - CT scan - first postoperative

Friday, 23 April 2010, we booked into hospital at 6am. Bobbinog had his ct scan of his abdomen booked for 7.30am.
Stress of note big time. Two months previous to this he only had AFP tested, and 2 months prior to that he stopped chemo. So he has been off chemo for 4 months.......
He went in for the scan at 7.45am...(always late) and was out by 8.15am. While he was under they did his bloods at the same time. Then we waited for the results.....and waited some more, and then some more... Finally at 11am I got the ct scan report which read:.........
No sign of tumour reactivation.....liver appears clear without any abnormalities.......
What a relief... Good enough to bring tears to my eyes. Bobbinog is still cancer free. We are so happy and relieved. That was the big scan, now there is bloods every 2 months and the next ct is in 6 months. Also, his AFP was down on 3.2. Fantastic or what. Our little miracle....1 in a million.

Hi all, we're back again. Bobbinog is due for his next lot of tests. He has had a wonderfull 2 months since the last tests. He is a healthy happy little boy. He can now stand, the crawling bit he has given up as a bad idea.... walking is the way to go. He says a few words, hello, ma-ma, da-da, ta-ta, does clap handy's and waves etc. He loves Telly Tubbies, la la is his favourite and is normally glued to the screen. He is a really cute little bugger.

He is having his 1st post chemo ct scan on friday 23 april, and the usual afp test. Stressing a bit but we believe all will be fine. Will advise.

As you can see, The Bobbinog is doing very well. He is now 11 months old, he turns 1 year old on 18 March 2010. What a 1st year he has had...... To fight cancer from the age of 3 months and to succeed. His bloods were done again yesterday, 19th Jan 10 and they are all still fine thankfully. His AFP is on 5. Its such a relief knowing its still down, and he has been chemo free for about 2 months now. We do the next blood test end april/beg may, and we are doing a full ct scan then too, so we get a good look so we can monitor closely. So I will update again round then, unless there is news I need to post before. Will advise.

Well... its a new year now! 2010..... Its going to be a good one! The Bobbinog is cured! His bloods are stable, his AFP has not risen in the last month... stable at 5.1. We are having his broviac removed on thursday - 28th jan... cant wait. He can have a proper splashy bubble bath and then be covered with baby lotion and baby powder... has not used baby powder since June 09. He will smell like a proper baby again.

His tests run from then every 2 months, he has bloods, ultrasound, Xrays and physical examination. They will also monitor his heart and hearing for a while as a standard post chemo thing in case damage occurred.

We monitor for the next 5 years, but probably forever as you never know. I truly hope and pray the tumour stays away and does not recur. They say there's a 95% chance it wont recur and he is cured. Time will tell. Please all pray that it does not recur.

Will keep posting occasionally.

Where do I start??? Been a long time since my last entry. Ok, chemo no 8 went well as we expected. The following week his bloods were fine but afp slightly raised to 18.6 from 8 the previous week which automatically started the stress factory up again. However we know it should be below 23 so it was actually ok and assumed it was due to chemo that it raised, but none the less we were not sure, but other than that all was well.

He is doing very well, weight up to 10kg and he is healthy and happy with no problems.

On monday this week, 4 dec, we came in for bloods again, and of course for chemo no 9!!!

The afp was down to 11.3 again, and red blood cout on 4 and white on 3 and nutrifins just over 1 and platelets on their way down too at 114. So will need to watch him closely now, but we can deal with that as we have before, its a standard chemo thing.

However, the good news that has come out of this chemo, is that his oncologist came to see him yesterday being tuesday, and I asked her why his afp went up and when he would be termed in remission if he wasn't already and she said, his type of cancer does not go in remission.... he either has it or not, and she then advised that in his case he no longer has it. He is CURED!!!

What a shock to hear that. It took a few hours to sink in and not sure that it fully has yet, but our Bobbinog has beat the cancer bug!!! WOW, we are so happy, however still very cautious, as we know how nasty the bug can be, so we will just take it easy and watch him and his bloods anyway for a few years, or maybe the rest of our lives...

Not sure what the procedure is from here on. I know he has bloods and scans regularly, I think its bloods monthly and a scan every 6 months. His oncologist will advise me on 21st dec.... which will be chemo no 10 aka... the last one in the course. Cool big time!!

Will advise how and where to from then.

It is sunday, 22nd November, and Bobbinog is doing well. He has had his broviac fitted into his aorta again on the left side this time, and he is all ready for chemo tomorrow. It is chemo no 8 of 10, so we are almost finished chemo. 2 more after this one, and the last one ends on christmas eve. Then we test his heart, kidneys, hearing etc again to make sure chemo has not caused damage, then we wait..... blood tests weekly I think to monitor AFP. Currently his AFP is on 8.6 which it was monday when we tested, originally it was 498 000, and it should be below 23.5 so well below range at the moment. The AFP is the tumour marker, which in this cancer we luckily have a tumour marker as other cancers only rely on full body scans to pick up tumours, which can miss the small ones.

It has been a busy year, but a good one, as we picked up the tumour and started treatment, which has been quite successfull. Next year will hopefully be a good one too in that the AFP levels stay normal. That is the big stress factor at the moment, the question whether it is gone for good or whether it is going to pop up again. Normally if it comes back it is more aggressive and does not react as well to chemo as it did first time round, but we are hoping it is gone for good, but we will deal with that next year if needs be. Our aim at the moment is to complete the chemo course and have a good christmas and new year. Next year we will deal with next year.

Hi all, as you can see, Bobbinog is doing very well post-op. He is almost back to normal, on 3 meals a day and drinking formula as per the norm. He was supposed to start chemo on Monday, 16 Nov, but it has been postponed as we can only get a docter to fit his broviac on 19 Nov, so chemo will commence on 23 November. He will have 3 sessions, so his last one ends on christmas eve if all goes well. So for now we are just going along with the last treatments. His bloods done on monday were good. His Full Blood count was on 12.1..... WOW, it has not been that in a while. Also his AFP count was on 24, and it should be 23.5 which is put down to lab error and goes as normal. So far so good, but we will watch that one very closely. Not much else really, just trying to get life back to semi normal and balanced nicely, but by the end of the year all will hopefully return to almost normal except for bloods being done and the ct scans. We pray that the cancer is gone for good. All looks promising at the moment, but we need to watch closely which we will definately be doing.....Yes I am paranoid!!!

Will advise how the broviac goes and the next chemo!