Rachel started another round of high-dose methotrexate today. She brought some paints and a small canvas with her from home (which initially was a birthday gift from the hospital from when she was in here getting chemo on her birthday) and she was thoroughly enjoying painting today. It was great to see her having a good time in here.

I got a call from the orthopedic surgeon at Mass General yesterday. He talked a little bit about what will happen with her upcoming surgery. This doctor is an orthopedic oncologist who specializes in spinal tumors. We still don’t have dates for surgery and radiation yet. We’re getting really frustrated waiting; we really want the surgery asap so that she has time to recover so that she can attend prom on May 20 and graduation on June 11. Apparently there is a lot for the doctors to figure out with the timing of her radiation and surgery. It’s extremely rare for osteosarcoma to be on the spine – less than 1%, from what I read on the NIH (National Institutes of Health) website (not to mention osteosarcoma is rare to begin with.)