"Phoebe seems to be doing very well. Her motor skills continue to be an ongoing struggle but are slowly getting better with practice/Physio. Here are some specific things we'd like prayer for this week.
1. No infection - with every surgical procedure comes the risk of infection and infection could be a major setback for the start of Phoebe's radio/chemotherapy. Please pray her wounds from all three surgeries heal and she continue to be infection free.
2. Chemo line installation - Next Tuesday Phoebe will undergo her 4th surgical procedure to install a line through which her chemo will be administered.
3. Going home - the team of surgeons, physios, oncologists and nurses are beginning the conversation about when we might go home. The timescale we are aiming for is this weekend. The surgical wounds are the things which impact most on this decision. They must remain clean, dry and infection free in order for us to go.
4. Radiotherapy Prep - this week is quickly filling up with prep for radiotherapy treatment. This involves explaining/showing Phoebe the process and equipment, making a mould/mask which she will wear everyday during treatment to keep her head as still as possible so therapy can be as accurate as possible, meeting the team of staff administering it. The hope for all this prep is that she is comfortable enough with the process so that she lies still (20 mins) throughout each radiotherapy session. If she wriggles/moves they will have to sedate her which only adds to complication.
5. Lumbar Puncture - tomorrow Phoebs has this procedure scheduled and is a very important procedure as this will give us the grading of the Medullablastoma which in turn will dictate which type of chemo she has and for how long (9 or 12 month!). Please pray for a lesser grade. Because Medullablastoma is an aggressive form of cancer and aggressive treatment must be put in place. The lesser grades are still more aggressive than other types of cancer so we are praying for a lesser prognosis.
As always, thank you all for your prayers and messages."
