The surgery will be the Monday after Thanksgiving. Without getting into all the details, the orthopedic oncologist was very impressed by the significant reduction in the tumor size. He said he generally doesn't see such a dramatic reduction. That's good news. He is the surgeon that originally performed the biopsy (and he was the unlucky guy that had to break the news to us that it was malignant back in August...but we like him). To make sure that they are removing the tumor and any potential surrounding cancer cells, they will remove the top portion of the fibula and some of the surrounding muscle and tissue.
The not so good news is that this will likely mean that they will need to remove the peroneal nerve which controls most of the movement of the foot. This will result in "drop foot". Not ideal, but there are supports she can wear (think of an ankle brace type contraption) that will help her manage walking and there is another surgery she could have down the road (way after chemo is wrapped up) that could allow her to regain ability to flex the foot upward. When we asked him about running and sports, he said that we definitely shouldn't rule that out even without the additional surgery. She'll have to work to compensate, but he expects that she'll be able to function quite well. Keep that in your prayers!
As you might imagine, Madeline wasn't excited about today's news... We all realize that it's better than several of the terrible alternatives, but no 12 year old girl wants to hear they may lose use of their foot and get a pretty big scar.
Focus on the positive... So far Madeline's kicking cancer's butt (major tumor shrinkage & it hasn't spread), she's feeling good these days, surgery recovery is only a few days, and it could be much worse. Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers. I swear we feel it!
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