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Feb 23/07 - Not Good News

6/12/2011

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Not Good News 
Category: Life
 
It's now been almost three weeks since the results of Darrel's tests came 
back.  While his overall appearance and energy levels seemed more or less 
returning to normal, the latest scans showed the battle going on inside his
body  was not going as well.  The areas that they had been monitoring were not
only  still there, but had almost doubled in size since the December tests.  The 
cancer was actively growing, and though they may be able to slow it down, it
was  not going to be stopped...ever!  You can not believe the shock and almost
every  other emotion that this news caused.  As if your son having cancer wasn't
bad  enough, being told that there was no longer anything else that could be
done  about it .....! 
 
From the beginning, Sick Kids had told us that they only go through the 
entire process (chemo,surgery,bone marrow transplant, and radiation) once.  
These things had proven unsuccessful, and now his treatments would revolve 
around "Quality of Life" issues.  We could drive him down to Toronto everyday 
or outpatient chemo, or give him a newer pill form of chemo at home.  Since 
Darrel lost one kidney during the operation to remove the tumor, and the fact 
that the transplant wasn't that long ago, he would not have been able to get a 
full dose of regular chemo anyways, so there didn't seem to be much sense in 
subjecting him to almost an entire day away from home for a short procedure.  
Most kids won't take anything in a pill form, but Darrel actually prefers them, 
and refuses liquid medicines, so adding one or two more pills to his daily 
cocktail of them  was the easier choice by far.  If successful, and they slow 
down further growth, they feel he has 5 to 10 years, barring any other new 
complications.  The opposite outcome is obvious, and not pleasant to say the 
least.

With modern medical science having thrown up it's collective arms in 
defeat, Rebecca has turned to the Internet for any other possible avenues to 
investigate.  There are countless of so-called "cures" and "miracle drugs" out 
there.  Of course, on site signs praises about each one, and the next slashes 
the previous one, but says its product can deleiver on its claims.  In the
past,  we have already tried Noni Juice, which Darrel would drink (I tried it
too, can'  blame him), Ojibwa Herbal Extracts (made him even mor sick to his
stomach).  Some  have suggested a sugar/glucose based plan, but that seems
unrealistic to me, and  the DCA (dichloroacetate) is only in early trials for
cancer treatments.  We  have started him on Phytoplanktons, which are a special
kind of sea-weed based  natural medicine.  We have NOTHING to lose by trying,
and Darrel has EVERYTHING  to gain if it truly does work.

He now has to get his blood counts checked again twice a week, but at least 
that can be done at a hospital closer to home.  While he has appetite has 
decreased somewhat, not much else noticeable has changed so far.  I think Kira 
knows something had happened, as the special treatment in regards to all things 
Darrel is beginning once more.  Until there is officially something more
factual  and urgent, the kids don't need to be burdened with all this. 
Hopefully that  won't need to happen for a very long time. 
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    The majority of all these entries were written by Darrel's father, Stephen.  For those that are not, efforts have been made to give proper credit where it is due.

    The bulk of the posts are in the June 2011 Archives Section, as that is when I transferred them over to this site.  Category Tags should allow you to find entries easier.

    I've tried to correct spacing issues on many of the entries, as most of the older ones have been copied from different sites I've used in the past. I apologize if some have been overlooked.

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