Here we go again

Yesterday we (Melanie and I) met with Saskia's oncologist, who confirmed what we allready knew but did not want to accept. The lump in her neck is considered to be a recurrance of the neuroblastoma.
During a meeting last Tuesday night with other oncologists and surgeons, the general consensus was that it is highly unlikely that it is anything else but neuroblastoma and everybody was of the opinion that it is best to be removed now and not wait for the results of a biopsy. In case a biopsy would show that it is something else, it still has to be removed, so better to take the lot out now.
Next week wednesday we will meet with the surgeon (same one who performed the previous two operations) and we will then know more about a date for the operation. The operation will be definately after a full body MIBG scan, which will be on Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 September.

This means that Saskia can still perform in her finals for callisthenics on Sunday 8 September...YEAH!!

After she was cleared last year, her body had to recover from the poison it received. She was very stiff and could not realy participate in any sports.
She found this type of gymnastics march/dance which she really enjoyed (and still does) and managed to train her body back into a pre-teen aged shape and form. She felt absolutely great and when we saw her perform not too long ago in the Royalty Theatre in Adelaide, Melanie and I had to wipe a tear away as both of us had flash backs of a year ago. We were soooo proud of her.
On Sunday 8 September will be the season finals and she has been training very hard to get there.

After the operation, Saskia will have to undergo once again chemo treatment. The number of sessions is still to be determined, but this will be anywhere between 2 and 6.

We slowly come to grip with the situation. Obviously we were all angry and had and still have many questions. But we have learned throughout the last trials not to ask too many questions as there are not too many answers. More research is needed to find the "kill-switch" so to speak.

Reading back through our blog brings us some comfort. We have gone through this before with the support of our church, school(s) and employer, our family, amazing friends and our faith, so we know that we can do this once again. Although we have no say in what cards we are being dealt in this life, all we can do is accept it and have faith that God is still in control, no matter what the outcome.

A stop-over?

It has been a long time since we added something to this blog and for a very good reason. The last year has been amazing for Saskia. She returned to school, her grades are fantastic, she joined calisthenics and just generally feels good. Her hair is getting long and curly and she is looking forward to high school.
The last year we have had some major changes to our family circumstances. Our household now has two more members: Saskia's grandparents from Singapore. They arrived last December and we hope that the Australian government is kind enough to let them stay forever. So with nine in the house we need to keep ourselves occupied and we are in the middle of opening a restaurant in Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills.
All was going very well and we had grand ideas for the future.

And then there was this lump in her neck once again.

She had developed a little lump before, but the treating doctors mentioned that due to the removal of half of the lymfnodes/glands from the left side of her neck, in case of a cold, the remaining nodes would work a little harder and swell up. So nothing to worry about.
However this time it was a little different. The lump was quite substantial in size and after some tests (ultra sound and CT scan), the oncologists mentioned that it is highly likely that the neuroblastoma is back. Although there is a small chance that this is just a glandular virus, due to Saskia's history and the fact that the lump re-appeared at exactly the same spot as where the neuroblastoma originally started, the doctor said that we have to brace for another storm.

Now this just took our breath away. So many questions and so little answers:

why?
the journey was over, or was it just a stop-over?
why?
why?
she was cleared, how is this possible?
why?
why?
God, what do you want from us?
why?
why?
WHY!?

At this stage there are no answers. The fact remains that it is highly likely that Saskia's journey has to start all over again. Next week we will meet with the doctors once again and talk about the way forward. A date for an operation will have to be set, followed by some form of treatment thereafter.

All we can hope for is that it is just a bad dream and that the lump is some form of a glandular virus.