What a Whirlwind!

There is no way to describe the last 2 weeks! We purchased plane tickets on a Friday, packed everything up, and moved it all back to the US. We didn't know if we would be staying in Denver or not but we knew we wouldn't be going back to Baños. We left Baños about 4PM and arrived in Quito about 7:30PM. We stopped by the cancer hospital to pick up the results of his MRI, Bone marrow biopsy, and lumbar puncture. We flew out of Quito at 11:20PM and arrived in Denver, Colorado at 8:10 AM.

That afternoon we met with Dr. Garrington, Flori the oncology nurse and Amity, the social worker. Dr. Garrington went over the records and it was decided that Enrique had had enough chemo (6 rounds) and that they would be pursuing a course of treatment to include radiation for the tumor behind his left eye and laser/cryosurgery on his right.

The very next day we met with Dr. Oliver the Ophthalmologic Oncologist/Laser Surgeon in the morning. He very much recommended preceding with surgery in the afternoon so the little guy starved and had surgery at about 3:30PM. The surgery went well and Dr. Oliver concluded after seeing his eye during the surgery that he needed to stay in the US for further treatment. Dr. Oliver also let us know that he would be waiving his fees to help our little buddy!! Kike was pretty uncomfortable after the surgery but he slept very well and woke up cuter than ever. (see puffy eye picture below). He will have 2 to 3 more surgeries. The next one is on July 29.

The next appointment was on the following Tuesday with Dr. Liu, the Radiation Oncologist. We talked much about his specific type of cancer and the risks of radiation. Because this cancer is hereditary, there is a much higher than normal chance that he will have other cancers in his lifetime, and the radiation increases these chances. They will make a specific helmet for him and spend the week making a plan for the radiation so that the surrounding tissues receive as little radiation as possible. Dr. Liu informed me that there would be no charge for the radiation portion of his treatment! That's huge!! We are still waiting to see what the cost of anesthesia 5 days a week will cost but are praying that the anesthesiology folks will decide to help out as well. Tomorrow, Friday, he will go in for a simulation. Monday is some other preparation, then the following Monday, July 4 he will start 5 weeks of radiation.

Even with so much of his treatment donated, we are still guessing that the treatment may exceed $150,000.

We have set up a Go Fund Me page at https://www.gofundme.com/enriquecancer but more money goes to Enrique if you donate on the lacasadefe.org website under "Enrique cancer treatment fund" or mail a check to New Life in Christ Baptist Church at PO box 964 Lusk, Wy 82225. Thank you for your prayers and help!!

Kike helping us move. I forgot what it was like to move with a 3 year old in the house. Fun times!

Of course, after all that help he needed a bit of rest.

Enrique Santi Vargas in the US!

Last leg of the flight!

We went to eat at Johnny Rockets in the Cherry Creek Mall. We met the manager, Mistara. Not only did she buy our lunch but she offered to do a fundraiser for Kike in the restaurant for Kike!