It took a week to receive the pathology report. The longest 7 days of our lives, as we held our breath and awaited news no one wants to receive anyhow.
Ganglioneuroblastoma
Dr. Gedminias, Lennon's incredibly gentle and soft spoken oncologist, phoned in the afternoon to personally tell us the pathology results. "Ganglioneuroblastoma," she said, "the best news we could have hoped for."
Ganglioneuroblastoma is an intermediate cancer, which means that some parts of the tumor are benign and some parts of it cancerous. It's a slow growing cancer and does not metastasize. The treatment for Ganglioneuroblastoma is to remove the tumor, which had been successfully done, almost completely.
The hard part is over, she explained. They had taken most all of the tumor they could get, and now we just watch and wait. Lennon will have baseline images done (X-ray and MRI) and those baselines will be compared to a new MRI taken every 3 months. She'll be monitored and closely followed for 5 years before she's considered in remission.
If you know me personally, you know while this is incredible news, my breath is still held. While the occurance of the tumor regrowing will be slow and easily caught, if it happens at all, my anxiety will always be waiting and wondering over every symptom she has. Is waiting the right answer? Is there more we could do? I'm assured by Dr. Gedminas there is not.
We simply wait.
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