HUGE Day

Monumental steps today!

Caroline was discharged today after finishing her 5th cycle (of 6) of Antibody Immunotherapy!  This was her last inpatient round of treatment...hopefully forever.  She also had surgery this morning to remove her Double-Lumen Hickman Central Line (heart bandage below in picture is where her line was connected).  She's had a central line since November 30, 2017, so this is really exciting - she will finally be able to shower and swim again soon!  This procedure was moved up a week, after they discovered a small hole in one of the lines over the weekend.  Because Caroline received her last dose of intravenous chemo treatment this round, and will hopefully no longer need a central line, they went ahead and removed it while we were still admitted today, instead of repairing it, or having her come back next week to get it removed.

Remaining treatment protocol timeline as follows:

• Weekly outpatient Vanderbilt clinic visits for blood work/labs and check-ups
• Cycle 6 (an final) of Immunotherapy in March (oral medication at home)
• End of treatment CT and MIBG scans in mid-April 
• DFMO clinical trial drug for 2 years (assuming No Evidence of Disease at end of treatment scan)

Huge shout out to the incredible staff at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, who have been so amazing to Caroline and our family throughout this process of inpatient stays.  We appreciate all of you more than words can ever adequately express, and we are very grateful that we chose to stay local for her treatment plan.  Many thanks to Dr. Maggie (surgeon) for taking such awesome care of Caroline today, on what we hope will be her final operation/procedure!

We will continue to keep the blog updated as we have new information or treatment results.

Tired, but happy and hopeful!

The Lantz Family

#carolinestrong

#ftgf

                                                     

Loading up car to come home from Vandy (hopefully the last time)

Heart bandage over Hickman line scar

Walking back from surgery

Pop-Pop heading home

Visit from 6A BFF Molly 

Vanderbilt Admission - Immunotherapy Round 5

Caroline was admitted this evening for Round 5 (of 6) of Immunotherapy. We are hopeful this will be her LAST inpatient admission for cancer treatment; her next round of Immunotherapy will take place at home (oral medication).  She will begin antibody therapy tomorrow morning, as well as get on a Dilaudid PCA 24/7 for pain management (pain is caused by the anti-body drug, Unituxin). We expect all the same side effects this round, as in the previous 4 rounds: high fever, extreme nerve pain, rash, loss of appetite, low oxygen levels, low blood pressure, nausea, diarrhea, etc.  It will be a rough little stretch, but we hope and pray it’s doing everything to get her to an NED (no evidence of disease) scan in April.

For those that have asked about #carolinestrong shirts, there is a batch going to print in 2 days: click here for the link.

As always, many thanks for the prayers and support!
The Lantz Family
#carolinestrong
#ftgf

HUGE thank you to Michelle Prichard for the awesome door sign and room decorations...she's decorated every.single.room for ALL of Caroline's inpatient stays!

Singing for Caroline - A Songwriters' Night

We were blessed and humbled to attend a very special songwriters' night to celebrate Caroline, that was coordinated and produced by some very special friends of ours, Brooke and Shane Minor. Thank you to the entire Minor family, and all of the talented artists that gave their time to honor our family: Scotty Emerick, Jonathon Singleton, Shane Minor, Drake White and Luke Bryan. The music was amazing and Caroline had a great time singing along all night!

Big shout out to Storme Warren for flawlessly hosting the entire event...the turnout was amazing and we are so very grateful to everyone that showed up to support our family!!!

With full hearts,

The Lantz Family

#carolinestrong

#ftgf

"Mr. Shane," Jonathan Singleton and Scotty Emerick

Caroline and "Mr. Luke"

Singing "Story" with Drake White

Progress Scan Update / Path Forward

Today we met with Caroline’s oncology team to review the results of her most recent MIBG progress scan, which was completed yesterday. Reading the results of these scans is very subjective, but overall, the medical team feels positive about the findings. The Radiologist cannot definitively say that she has “no evidence of disease,” but they are pleased with the improvements on this scan relative to previous scans. There are no plans for a biopsy at this this time, or any additional scans, until after treatment. As parents, we still feel very anxious (and a little bummed!) that she didn’t get a clear “no evidence of disease” result...her body has fought so hard, and for so long, we just want this disease to be gone already! But, we’re extremely thankful the disease didn’t progress.

Caroline is still on the standard treatment protocol, so the next steps are:

• Round 5 of Immunotherapy (inpatient at the hospital)
• Central Line Removal (surgery)
• Round 6 of Immunotherapy (oral medication at home)

After Round 6 of Immunotherapy, Caroline will get progress scans again, and we're hoping she's eligible to enroll into a clinical trial that significantly decreases relapse rates, called DFMO. In order to qualify for this trial drug, she must have completed standard treatment protocol and also be NED (no evidence of disease) at that next scan.

Radiology prep for MIBG scan.

Driving herself back to MIBG scan.

As always, we appreciate your continued prayers and support during this long journey.

The Lantz Family
#carolinestrong
#ftgf

Home...again...

Caroline has been able to remain fever-free for 24 hours, and her blood cultures showed no growth for anything specific, so she was able to be discharged today.  The IV antibiotics for 48 hours helped significantly, and we are all glad to be together, home, and hopefully able to catch up on rest!

Thanks for you for always keeping us in your prayers,
The Lantz Family
#carolinestrong
#ftgf

Good luck tonight, Preds!