Mikayla's Journey
On Sunday, September 16th (Mikayla's 5th birthday) Megan noticed that Mikayla had blood in her urine. It was the middle of Mikayla's birthday party at Pump It Up, so Megan tried to stay calm and told Bill what had happened when they got home that evening. Mikayla did not complain of burning or pain and didn't seem to think anything was out of the ordinary. Megan took her to the pediatrician on Monday where they found an extremely high level of blood and protein in her urine. The pediatrician sent Mikayla over to the local hospital to have a full blood work up, another urine sample, strep test and abdominal ultrasound. She wanted the tests done STAT...a scary sound to any parent. Mikayla was unable to get the ultrasound that evening because she needed to fast prior to the test so it was scheduled for the following morning. The blood, strep and even the urine test came back normal. By the time she had urinated at the hospital her urine had cleared with only a trace amount of blood present. On Tuesday, September 18th Megan took Mikayla back to the hospital for an ultrasound, and that is when they found a tumor on Mikayla's left kidney. Mikayla's pediatrician called Megan at the hospital and told her to get Mikayla in the car and drive directly to Children's Memorial Hospital. Bill met Mikayla and Megan at the hospital and were told in the ER that it looked like Mikayla had a Wilms tumor, a rare & malignant kidney tumor. They ran a CT scan to confirm what they thought they saw on the ultrasound and to check for possible spread. Dr. Kathy Barsness explained that they would not know for sure if it had spread until they opended Mikayla up but from the scans it did not appear to have affected any other organs. On Thursday, September 20th Mikayla went into surgery and Dr. Barsness removed her left kidney.
The pathologist's report concluded that the tumor was consistent with that of a Wilm's tumor, and that the histology of the tumor is favorable. The lymph nodes they tested came out negative but they did say there were cancer cells at the margin of the tumor which means the tissue surrounding the tumor that is still inside her has cancer cells in it. The tumor also ruptured during surgery. The rupture along with the invasion of the surrounding tissue places the cancer at a Stage 3. Even at this advanced stage she is said to have a very good prognosis of 85-90% survival.
Mikayla began radiation on Tuesday,October 2nd and will be given chemo at the same time beginning on Wednesday, October 3rd. The chemo will be given once a week for the first few months and then once every three weeks after that for a total of 28 weeks. Radiation will be every day for one week. This treatment schedule, if all goes well, should last about seven months. She will be given three dif ferent chemos (Vincristine, Dactinomyacin, and Doxorubicin) and they all have different side effects.
As we all know, Mikayla is a beautiful princess and there is no doubt in our minds that she will be very strong and brave throughout her illness. We thank you all for your continued support and prayers and hope that you check back often to join us through her treatment.
4.21.08 - 3 weeks after final chemo. Mikayla has an echocardiogram, CT scan, and physical with oncology. All tests come back normal. First results are NED (No Evidence of Disease)!!!!!
5.5.08 - Port removed
7.21.08 - First 3 month scans (chest XRay & ultrasound)
