Hannah’s Journey

At our house, we’ve moved straight from the Super Bowl into American Idol. We don’t have a favorite yet, but we’ll let you know in the next few weeks.

We have finally had some good news. Hannah had a repeat PET scan and cat scan at the end of January. The cat scan shows the mass in her left lung,which is wrapped around her aorta and is fairly large, however the PET scan shows that there is no longer any measurable disease in the mass. It appears the antibody treatment was working. Unfortunately, at Christmas, we did not have the luxury of time to wait the 2 months for the next scan, and had to go ahead with radiation to slow the growth of the tumor. The funny thing about a clinical trial, is that you have to show measurable disease to be allowed in the trial. Hannah’s oncologist went to bat for her with the maker of the drug and was able to prove that the antibody treatment was working. The drug company granted compassionate use for 6 months, so this past Thursday, she had her first treatment since December. We can’t describe how happy we are with the news we were given.

As great as the news was about the tumor, the blood clot continues to be of great concern. Her last heart MRI shows that the blood clot has not yet begun dissolving, so we continue with the twice daily injections of blood thinner, and hope her body begins the process of breaking down the clot soon. In the meantime, Hannah keeps busy with school and friends, and makes Thursday afternoon trips down to Sloan for treatments and check-ups.