Our childs post surgery report-

[Oscar]

Hi guys, again, thanx for all the kind thoughts and for the prayers that have been offered on Kostia's behalf and ours.

The Primary Childrens Hospital in Salt Lake is one of the top 10 childrens facilities in the entire country, they are extremely good.  The surgeon is excellent and came highly recommended by many.  His surgery didn't even get started until 4:45pm this afternoon (2/27).  The surgery went very well, no complications and minimal loss of blood.  He also tolerated the anesthesia very well.  They took out the tumor completely, between the ribs on his side, so no having to break or cut any ribs etc, for which I am grateful.  The tumor was the size of a small peach!  How anyone ever missed it (the docs in her country, her Kiev exam and even our pediatricians x-ray) is beyond me.  I guess it was in a rather difficult place to see.  But the surgeon said that it did have some nerves coming from his back into it, and this supports his theory that it might be what is called a ganglio blastoma.  These are often mature, non-malignant tumors but can certainly sometimes be malignant.  He said it looked quite mature, meaning he felt it had been there and growing for quite some time.  So if it were malignant, it seems to me it would have metastisized a long time ago and killed him, but it hasn't.  Anyway, he said that they will take it to pathology where they will slice it up into about 100 pieces and check every one to make sure there are no cancer cells in any of it, but the results of that may not even be back until first of next week!  But he did sent it down to the lab to have them cut and look at least at one section to see if they could find anything so we wouldn't have to wait through the whole weekend wondering. The section was clear of any cancer.  He said that was very promising but that we still need to have the FULL pathology done to be sure.  When talking later to the anesthesiologist, he said that in tumors, if there are cancer cells, they are usually fairly evenly spread around so to have this first section clear is a very good sign.  He said that when the lab does this, they rarely change their diagnosis.  So that is VERY good news.  They also did confirm that it looks like a very "mature" tumor (has been there for quite a while), again confirming what the surgeon had thought it might be.  So really, things could not have gone better today really.  But until we get the final pathology report, we won't be positive, but we are hopeful.  If it is clear, there is no worry that this growth will come back or anything.. So we will continue to have faith and hope for the best.  We will know soon.

Alyona has been incredibly strong through all of this.  She is sleeping overnight in his room and will be for the next four days or so until he is released.  They have chairs there that fold out into beds for this purpose.

Will continue to update..  Thanx again for all the support.

Oscar

[BubbaGump]

... in response to Our childs post surgery report-, posted by Oscar on Feb 28, 2003

[This message has been edited by BubbaGump]

I went over to a neighbors once and asked how they were doing. Turns out they both had surgery and went to the fridge and pulled out jars with each of their tumors. It grossed me out but kids would find it interesting to show their friends. A peach sized tumor would be great to show in science class. They could dissect it and put it under a microscope.

With a peach sized tumor by his lung he must have had some breathing problems.  It seems like when the doctor puts a stethoscope to your kids chest or back he would have heard something was wrong.  Seems like it would have been painful too.

[Oscar]

... in response to Well I guess it won't end up in your fri..., posted by BubbaGump on Feb 28, 2003

No it won't end up in the fridge because it will be sectioned into at least 100 pieces to check for any cancer cells.

The docs aren't sure if the tumor and the bronchitis he has gotten for the last few years are related, but I KNOW they are!  Man, you can't have a lung that small with a peach size tumor and not have irritation, infection and all kinds of things along with it in my opinion, but I'm not a medical doc so..

No, you couldn't hear anything with a stethoscope and with all the people looking at his xrays, only one doc even picked it up!  It was in a rather difficult to see spot somehow, I don't know..  No, there was no pain associated with it.

He's recuperating well, walked 4 times yesterday already.
Just hoping for a clean slate on the rest of the pathology..
May not know till next week.

[BubbaGump]

... in response to Re: Well I guess it won't end up in your..., posted by Oscar on Mar 1, 2003

MRIs are for soft tissue, Xrays are for bones and hard tissue.

[WmGo]

... in response to Our childs post surgery report-, posted by Oscar on Feb 28, 2003

PTL bro

[don1]

... in response to Our childs post surgery report-, posted by Oscar on Feb 28, 2003

Glad to hear that your son's surgery went so well . I hope he has a speedy recovery .

Best Wishes for you and your family

Don

[Rags]

... in response to Our childs post surgery report-, posted by Oscar on Feb 28, 2003

We are very relieved to hear that everything went well. It's nice that Alyona is comfortable while she waits with Kostia. I know that this will reinforce her decision to come to America and will help bring you closer together as a family.

[thesearch]

... in response to Our childs post surgery report-, posted by Oscar on Feb 28, 2003

asdf

[Philb]

... in response to Our childs post surgery report-, posted by Oscar on Feb 28, 2003

The fact that the tumor was ennervated is a good sign.  Also, it has been my experience (as his anesthesiologist said) that the vast majority of the time they will know whether a tumor is malignant or not from the frozen section.  In fact, an experienced surgeon will usually have a pretty good idea from the tumors appearance and location alone.

In case you wondered, I am a Registered Nurse.

[CS767]

... in response to This is very good...., posted by Philb on Feb 28, 2003

Must be power in prayer!

[KenC]

... in response to Our childs post surgery report-, posted by Oscar on Feb 28, 2003

n/t

[Rando]

... in response to Our childs post surgery report-, posted by Oscar on Feb 28, 2003

Oscar,

That is great news!! In the service it was my job to prepare this tissue to be read by the pathologist. That does take 3 or 4 days and so the timing seems about right.

Congradulations to you and your family with this successful operation. Children usually recover fairly fast from this and I would expect that your son will be no exception.

Best wishes to you and yours.

Randy

[Cold Warrior]

... in response to Our childs post surgery report-, posted by Oscar on Feb 28, 2003

Great news Oscar. I just wonder if Kostia's tumour has anything to do with radiation from Chernobyl. I know that thousand of children from UKR and belarus are being brought to Europe each year for radiation treatment.

[Scaught]

... in response to Chernobyl....., posted by Cold Warrior on Feb 28, 2003

Here's a link with some info on how Cs137 and other radioactive isotopes are spreading throughout Ukraine. I found it surprising that Cs137 from Chernobyl is still being found in the fish in Scandinavia. That prize fish you catch on your next trip might have a half life of 30 years.

Yet another reason for people to want to leave Ukraine.

http://de.geocities.com/ecology_lab_kiev/Chernobyl.html

But even the "pristine" lakes and streams of my home state, Maine, are polluted with mercury, and people there are advised to eat just a few wild-caught fish per month there, maximum. It's got to be worse in most other states. The whole world has been our toilet for so long, it's a wonder things aren't worse. Have a nice day!

[Oscar]

... in response to Chernobyl....., posted by Cold Warrior on Feb 28, 2003

Well, They are from Dnepropetrovsk, so in the middle of the country.  I may be wrong but I had thought that Chernobyl was at the very top (North) of the country.  Also, I believe that the Chernobyl disaster happened in 1986 or thereabouts and he was born in 1995.  So I think it would be tough to link his problem with that.. I don't know, anythings possible I guess..