On January 27, 2011 Eric Merkley was diagnosed with osteosarcoma. An aggressive cancer that we hope and the doctors to this point seem confident that is contained to one spot on his leg. Prognosis is good. Treatments and recovery will be long and painful.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

6 Months Clean!


Today was a very full day.  We started at Primaries Children Hospital at 9:00 for all the scans.

1.       CT – chest x-ray – Clear!

2.       X-ray of his lower leg – still not there, hasn’t grown back yet, … but all is good!

3.       Lab work – All his blood counts are great and have almost returned back to normal (apparently it can take up to a year for his blood counts to settle down in the “Normal” range.)  His ANC is 2000, still not high enough to kiss Sami, (Sorry Sami).

4.       Bone Scan
This is Eric getting his bone scan.  The screen at the top shows his skeleton as the machine works it way down his body.  His kidneys and bladder are lite up bright with all the radioactive dye trying to leave his body.

  First off, the technician got Eric’s hopes way up by telling him that his growth platelets were still open…the scan had only gone from the top of his head to his collar bone.  So Eric got really excited that he could possibly grow taller and his shoulders would grow broader…. As the scan continued down his body, it was very clear that the platelets are closed.  This information did not surprise me, but disappointed Eric.  OH Well!

5.  Next stop was Dr Sprakers Office, She is just a crack up.  She is so full of life and excited for Eric and his mission call.  So we mapped out a game plan.  She is going to find a Pediatric Oncology hospital in Sacramento and get in contact with a doctor there to work with, as Eric continues with his regular checkups and scans.   We thought Dr Spraker was our last appointment, but she had talked to Dr Randall this morning and he said he wanted to see Eric too.

6.  Off we went to Dr Randalls office.  It was good to see him and we could not help but come out of the hospital so happy, fearless and so loved.  I know that sounds weird to say that we are loved by these wonderful people that saved Eric’s life, but we truly feel so happy and loved by them and we certainly share that feeling with them.  We were truly blessed to have these wonderful doctors and nurses caring for Eric.

7.  Last stop in SLC was Hanger Prosthetic.  Eric’s foot had been making some funny noises, so they tore apart his foot and he had shredded his foot.  They have never seen this on this particular foot until it is about 10 years old…. This foot is only 3 months old.  So he has gone through 2 knees and 1 foot!  Phil laughed and told him to do his worse and Eric took that to heart!  Well now Phil is doing his homework to line Eric up with a prosthetic company in Sacramento to take care of him and also get a game plan in place before he flies out to CA and after. 

To say that today has been a very productive day not to mention we love hearing that he is still CANCER FREE would be an understatement!  All is well at our home!

2 comments:

  1. Great news! We, too, feel so loved by everyone at PCMC. It's a great place:) Is Eric interested in getting together with Tim and some other kids for a special police/fireman day?
    We are looking at June 5th. Let me know. We would love to have him join us. I can email more info as we get it, but it could involve shooting some cool guns at the range:)

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