I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for praying for Harrison. We received a call very late in the business day yesterday with his results.
The simplest and quickest answer is that Harrison is okay.
For those of you who would like more information, I'll do my best to explain the results in more detail.
The dark spot in the biopsy was a Clark's Nevus. Basically it's an atypical mole. "Atypical" anything sounds scary, and it can be. The doctor said these types of moles indicate the skin cells are transitioning or changing in some way.
The doctor described a spectrum with normal on one side and melanoma(cancer) on the other. Then she said a Clark's Nevus in children is as close to normal as you can get without being normal. (I admit a flood of relief when she said that!) She said she sees these in children often; they are common in childhood without being of huge concern. She made a point to say that the biopsy removed the Clark's Nevus completely.
Why were the skin cells changing? We don't know. Sometimes the skin forms moles (acquired nevi). It could be indicative of the center of a Halo Nevus (a benign dark mole with a white halo around it) forming. *I'm starting to wonder if ALL of Harrison's white spots are actually Halo Nevi...They have all had a small brown center surrounded by white, de-pigmented skin. That could mean something autoimmune...but I digress. That's another post for another day!*
The pathology report was UNABLE to confirm Vitilgo. However, the doctor believes that is the correct diagnosis, and we will move forward with a treatment plan. (BTW, I wasn't told why it was was unable to be confirmed. Maybe the sample of white was too small, maybe it was damaged trying to focus on the Clark's Nevus, maybe it isn't Vitiligo but nothing of concern. I don't have those answers, and I'm not sure the doctor does either. The biopsy was sent to a lab in Tennessee for pathology to be done.) There's not a lot to be done for Vitiligo. However, our doctor suggested we try using Elidel topical cream. The cream *may* prevent the white spots from growing. The cream *may* re-pigment the white spots. But quite frankly, the cream might not do anything at all. We have decided to try it for two months. At the end of November, we will meet with the doctor to go over any results and decide what more to do from there.
I am so thankful that Harrison's results are nothing to be concerned about, as far as melanoma is concerned.
I am so thankful for your prayers.
I am praising God for this news.
I am.
And yet...
It's hard to sit with "we don't know" for an answer.
We are going to treat Harrison's white spots as Vitiligo, but we don't know if that's what we're really dealing with.
It feels good to have a treatment plan in place for Vitiligo, but we don't know if it will be effective
Both Vitiligo and Halo Nevi may have autoimmune connections, but we don't know what that means for Harrison's overall, comprehensive health.
Lige and I still feel there is something going on with Harrison. We want to exhaust all possible means for determining what that might be. But the prospect of climbing that huge and complicated mountain is, well, exhausting.
Please continue to pray for us. Join with us as we praise God for the wonderful "no cancer" news! Pray for Lige and I as we regroup, take a breather, and determine our next steps in helping Harrison. Praise God with us that Harrison is such an amazing trooper in all this. He is unfazed by white spots, stitches, and diagnoses. I thank our Lord that Harrison is not burdened by fear or anxiety over any of this. And if this something we keep thinking is there, actually isn't anything...pray that God would settle our hearts on that so that we don't plow ahead with unnecessary tests, procedures, and expenses.
I am humbled by your support. Thank you so very much.
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