Dear Friends and Family,
Over the past 1½ years we have been blessed with so much love and support while dealing with Quincy's illness. Our family has felt the warmth and kindest from so many people while trying to get through this extremely difficult time. When Quincy was first diagnosed in November of 2001 she was terribly sick and suffered with incredible pain. Then we were able to share with you her many victories in her long journey back to health. We wish we could keep updating you with only positive news, but life doesn't always work that way.
As many of you already know, Quincy had a relapse with her cancer last week. What started as a complaint of pain in her right leg, developed into a severe limp within a few days. Quincy had a bone scan and an MRI that confirmed that the cancer was back. We met Friday with her oncologist who gave us the news that we hoped and prayed we would never hear. With the relapse, Quincy is now at a stage where she cannot be cured. We have known all along what long odds we were facing, but deep down inside we always had hope. This brutal crush of reality is devastating to us. When Quincy was first diagnosed her cancer was so advanced that she was put on an extremely aggressive chemo regimen that included drugs for relapse patients. Now that these have failed, there are very few choices left. Through our tears we discussed quality-of-life options for Quincy with her doctor and staff.
First and foremost, the doctors want our family to go on the Make-A-Wish trip to Disneyworld. We started radiation therapy Friday and will have a treatment each day until we leave on March 28 in order to stabilize her leg and hopefully eliminate some pain. We decided that upon our return, Quincy will start-up on another chemo drug which has shown to have some success in dealing with her particular cancer. The drug will be administered on an outpatient basis and should have fewer side effects. If this drug works, it can keep Quincy's cancer at bay for a while. At this point in time, there are no experimental drugs or open trials that make sense for her to try.
We will be doing our very best to keep a normal family life for as long as we possibly can. Our boys know that Quincy's cancer is back but that is the extent of it for now. When we get back from Disneyworld we will meet with counselors from UCSF for guidance on how to explain Quincy's situation to Brody and Keenan.
Please know that everyday we are still praying for a miracle.
Love,
Roger and Lisa
