How were the scans?

Hello Friends!

So many of you have asked about Luke's scans...we are very grateful for your prayers and concerns.  We met with Luke's team this afternoon.  The short answer is that the report was great and not so great, both at the same time.  Luke's Doctor is extremely pleased by the progress with the tumors in his lungs.  The radiation had a huge impact, and the progress in eradicating the cancer from his chest cavity is very encouraging.  That's great news, and an answer to a LOT of prayer.

The not so great piece is that one of the other areas where Luke had a tumor has flared up again.  On his original scans (way back in August) he had a visible tumor on his sacrum bone (lower back), but by February it was almost invisible on the scans.  The scan from Monday shows that it has returned as active cancer.  It's not big (about the size of a peanut M&M), but it's a concern because it represents the wrong trajectory.  We want all of the cancer to regress, like is happening in Luke's lungs.  This tumor is progressing, even in the midst of treatment.

What does this mean?  Luke's Doc has always been planning on doing radiation in his lower back, probably in the Fall.  They will probably move that timetable earlier, possibly late summer, so they can address the tumor specifically and directly.  In addition, today they added two different chemo drugs to his treatment, with the hope that the tumor in his sacrum will be killed off.  We are adjusting to this new plan and new timeline.

How can you pray?
1) We are SO thankful for healing in Luke's lungs.  The cancer is going away.  Continue to pray for the next scan to show ZERO residual tumors, ZERO evidence of cancer there.
2) We are SO thankful that two other tumors from Luke's previous scans (one on his liver and one in his butt muscle) are now undetectable on the scan from Monday.  No flare ups!
3) We are SO thankful that Luke's leg is healthy.  Amputees often have ongoing complications (skin rashes, infection, soreness, etc.) but so far Luke has avoided those.  In addition, there is no cancer to be found anywhere in Luke's leg, which means the surgery served it's purpose.  Pray for continued progress for Luke with his prosthetic!
4) The scan only showed one "live" cancerous spot, but just that one spot represents a concern.  Pray for God to clean the cancer out of Luke's sacrum bone.  They won't scan Luke again until the end of summer, so my daily prayer between now and then will be complete healing, no more cancer in the sacrum or anywhere else.
5) This stuff is SO emotionally challenging for Luke, Laura, and me.  Pray for peace, and for perseverance.  Luke has so many dreams, and this process can be so discouraging.  Pray for his courage, and his attitude.  Your continued prayers mean so much.

In some ways this was a hard day, but God is big.  In Psalm 18:6 it says "In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help.  From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears."  God's ears hear our cry, and He will fight for our boy.  Our prayer remains simple: God heal our boy.  We can't stop, WON'T stop praying for God to heal our boy.  (James 5:14-16)

God bless,
James & Lu
(for Sam, Jay, & Luke)