Posts by Suzanne Sawyer-Espinoza

Kendall had his PET scan yesterday, and the initial results showed a large mass in his lungs, new activity on his spine, as well as new activity in his thigh. Not what we were hoping for, of course. About two hours after Kendall got home from doing the PET scan we got a call from his doctor saying that they would need to admit him as soon…

Due to a mix-up from the hospital Kendall was unable to get his PET scan on Friday. It has been rescheduled for this coming Monday. We did, however, learn more about what his chemotherapy regimen will look like with his Philadelphia positive diagnosis. We were under the impression that he would do another course of chemo, possibly followed by radiation and most likely a bone marrow transplant.…

With extra appointments and an unexpected blood transfusion on Saturday, Kendall ended up needing to be up in Salt Lake at the hospital on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this past week. Even so, this did feel like a much easier week because he hasn't had any chemo treatments since last Monday. It's amazing how much better he feels without actively putting poison into his body…

Today's appointments and procedures were all with neurosurgery. Isn't this X-ray of the hardware in Kendall's spine impressive? This side image was taken earlier today. We knew that his oncology team was going to publish about Kendall's case, but today we learned that the circumstances around his back surgery were also extremely rare (only eight previously published accounts of similar cases). They asked for (and received) permission…

Kendall has now finished his first full round of chemo and will get a "break" for two weeks (last week was technically the first one). Of course, that break this week looks like *only* labs, a lumbar spinal tap with chemo infusion, chemo pill, PET scan, bone marrow biopsy, meeting with the neurosurgery team and getting back X-rays and possible back brace adjustment, as well as other…

Yes, we took the plunge and shaved Kendall's head last night. It was a bit overdo, since he had reached that stage of chemo treatments when handfuls of hair would be left on the floor after each shower, found on his pillow, or the dandruff of hair on his shirts. Clara declares Dad's head is "fuzzy." Kendall did have his PET scan on Thursday, and we got…

I apologize that it's been a bit since my last update. We've had a few new developments since then. On Saturday evening Kendall starting having some (new) back pain and spasms that could be pretty intense. They continued through that night and into Sunday morning, when I finally called the on-call Hematology Fellow for the weekend to see what they recommended. He said that we needed to…

Let me start by saying that Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in and of itself is not that rare...in children with leukemia. It's much less common in adults, and apparently there are several things about Kendall's manifestation of his particular B-cell ALL that are incredibly unique. Enough so that Kendall has already given permission for articles to be written about him in several medical journals (and possibly textbooks).…

I've started this update several times but haven't known exactly what I wanted to say. We've been adjusting to our new "normal" of having Kendall home. It's been a learning curve for sure. There have needed to be a few more trips to Salt Lake than we'd expected because of some lab results and other schedule changes (so thankful that Kendall's sister has been able to help…

Kendall was able to check out of Huntsman Cancer Hospital and come home this afternoon. He will spend the next several Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays up there (outpatient) doing labs, rounds of chemo, imaging, and possibly transfusions. Apparently Clara (our youngest) mistakenly thought that Daddy would have to go back to the hospital after just a visit at home. I wish I had a picture of her…