The week of October 25 was a busy one for us. On the previous Friday we had gone to the Cancer Agency to have a mold fitted for Luke for radiation treatments. Luke was placed lying down onto this big blue beanbag looking and feeling plastic pillow. Once they had him positioned where they wanted him, they used a vacuum type hose to suck out all the air from the bag that then made a perfect form of Luke's body. Some Velcro straps were added to the form and Luke was strapped into it. He hated not being able to move. We then were taken to a simulator machine and he was set up. All the measurements were made and a couple of x-rays were taken to make sure he was lined up exactly where he was supposed to be. Then they brought out the permanent markers and drew a bunch of lines all over his tummy and told us to keep drawing them in if they faded. The whole thing took about an hour and although he was mad and upset, the procedure wasn't physically painful for Luke. After that, we were told to go home and that once the final pathology report came in, we'd be contacted about when Luke's first radiation treatment would be.

Luke was scheduled to get Vincristine and Doxorubicin on the Tuesday. The previous time Luke had Doxorubicin, he had to get an echocardiograph done and the nurse told us at that time that he need to have one done each time before he got Doxorubicin. So when we were told that Luke was supposed to have Doxorubicin as well as Vincristine on Tuesday, I asked the oncologist about getting an echocardiograph done. He told us that one hadn't been scheduled for that dose, as it is usually unnecessary. That they should do them every other time a dose of Doxorubicin is scheduled. Luke's file was pulled out and I pointed out that Luke was missing a Dactinomycin dose that he was supposed to get before surgery but it was put off until after surgery. The oncologist weighed Luke and wasn't too happy that his weight gain was so slow and that he still seemed to be recovering from the surgery. So the oncologist decided, with my blessings, that Luke would not have chemo on the Tuesday but would come back and have it on the Friday.

We hadn't gotten the final pathology reports from Luke's surgery and were told that there was going to be a meeting on Thursday and we'd be given the results on the Friday. It was then explained to us the need to get the radiologist, the surgeon, the pathologist as well as the oncologist all together in the same room to discuss the best course of action. The preliminary results that the oncologist had indicated that Luke's right testicle had appeared 'stuck' to the tumor of the kidney and they were going to decide if it was necessary to radiate his testicle or not. We were informed how radiating the testicles could result in sterility and how it might interfere with his hormone production for puberty (that he might need hormone supplements and that puberty might be delayed). The oncologist seemed pleased that one of his testicles was still stuck up inside his abdomen because it meant that if radiation of the testicle was necessary, that the other testicle would be spared whereas it would have been radiated had it been in the scrotum.

We came back on Friday and weighed Luke. He'd gained a tiny bit and looked better so it was decided that they would go ahead with his chemo. Instead of the Doxorubicin, he was given his missing Dactinomycin and Vincristine. We were told the results of the report which, basically, said that Luke had bi-lateral Wilm's tumor. That the left kidney was a stage 3 and that he'd need 6 treatments of radiation. It was also felt that his testicle was fine and would NOT need to be radiated. We were given our first radiation appointment for Monday, November 1.