Diagnosis Day

Jordan is still having back pain, and for the most part they manage it with Motrin. She had an Echocardigram today. (an ultrasound on her heart) This is just used as a baseline to measure the effects of her condition and/or treatment on her heart.

Freddie Solomon from the SF 49er’s came to visit Jordan today. Danny’s dad, Eddie Pounds knows a bunch of the 49er’s from the 80’s because he worked at the 49er Training Camp. Freddie was from the Tampa Bay Area and when he retired from football her returned here. Freddie was in two Super Bowls, number 16 and 19 and he has two Super Bowl rings.

Dr. O came to see us today to give us a diagnosis. She talked with Danny, Donna and I. It turns out that Jordan has Leukemia. This sounds terrible, but it really is the best case scenario, except of course that it was nothing. The bone cancer possibilities were much scarier, especially since it seemed that it would have been at an advanced stage.

Leukemia is a cancer that affects the bone marrow. Since it’s in her bone marrow it causes lesions to occur in any place where bone exists. This explains why she has lesions throughout her body.

Normally Leukemia is not diagnosed from MRI’s or Bone Scans. Since we approached this from the opposite angle because of her back pain, her doctors looked at other studies and found them consistent with Jordan’s symptoms.

The good news is that Chemotherapy dissolves lesions that are caused by Leukemia. Jordan won’t have to undergo surgery to remove any tumors and she won’t have to have radiation therapy.

Her spinal fluid is clear and shows no signs of Leukemia. Dr. O is still waiting for the bone marrow biopsy to be completed, but based on all other tests, they feel that she has Acute Mylogenous Leukemia (AML). Their diagnosis is 95% confirmed at this point and when they get the bone marrow results back, they expect it to fully confirm it.

She is to start Chemotherapy tomorrow. The first treatment will be during a Lumbar Puncture (spinal tap). During this procedure they will inject Chemo into the spinal fluid. This is used as a preventative measure to keep her spinal column clear of Leukemia.

Dr. O came in and talked with Jordan and explained the diagnosis. Jordan did break down and told Dr. O she didn’t want to hear any more about it. Dr. O waited for a few minutes and then Jordan asked her a few questions. I took this as a good sign, because she wanted to hear more about it and how it was going to affect her. Dr. O is a very patient and sensitive doctor. She is always honest with Jordan and answers all her questions truthfully.

One of Jordan’s biggest fears is that all of her hair will fall out. She has always had beautiful thick, curly hair and she doesn’t want to lose it. There is a slight chance it won’t fall out, because some patients don’t actually lose their hair. The odds are against that, but it is still a possibility.

Jordan’s night nurse was Aimee. At first Jordan didn’t think she would like her but after giving her a chance, she actually likes her very much.