Where We Are Now

This is Nikki, a friend of the family, and I'm going to do updates until Jenn and Jeremy are able to get Avery home and have the luxury of computer access. They have limited cell phone service in the hospital, so that paired with the fact that they are focused on being Avery's support and advocates right now, makes it difficult for them to answer calls and return text messages. They are so appreciative of everyone's concern and prayers and this blog will be a great way to keep everyone updated as they venture on this unexpected journey.
To date, this is what has happened. Jenn and Jeremy noticed that Avery was a little unsteady and seemed to be getting more and more clumsy, (sounds pretty typical for an 11 month old, right?) When they were at Nana's house for Christmas she noticed it seemed to be a bit more than typical toddler clumsiness. Their daycare provider and another close friend also noticed that something seemed a bit off, so they got her into the pediatrician last Tuesday, December 29Th. They expected to be told she had an ear infection. The pediatrician recognized that Avery's head had grown quite a bit since her last appointment- she had gone from being in the 50% percentile for head circumference in October to off the chart, which ends at the 97% percentile. They wanted to get Miss Avery in for an MRI right away, but the MRI center at Children's Mercy was already closed for the night. They were sent home and told they would receive a call the next morning to let them know when to go in for the MRI. As it turned out, an MRI wasn't available, so they scheduled them for a CAT scan on Wednesday morning, the 30Th. During that procedure, they found that Avery had a tumor that was 4cmx7cm on the back of her head. It was on the portion of the brain that controls coordination, which explained why Avery was having difficulty controlling her movements. The doctors explained that the first step was to get the tumor out and scheduled surgery for Thursday morning, the 31st. They admitted her to Children's Mercy Downtown and began the process of prepping her for surgery and did an MRI to get a better picture of the tumor. The surgery was a success. The surgeon is confident that he was able to remove all of the tumor. They will be doing another MRI today to be sure that it's all gone.
The next step will be to meet with the oncologist when the pathology results are in next week, hopefully on Monday. Once they know what kind of a tumor it was, they will be able to give Jeremy and Jenn more information on exactly what the next steps will be. They have prepared them that Chemo is likely going to be necessary.
Avery is an incredibly strong kiddo. She is going to amaze us all over the course of this journey and she will no doubt make us very proud over and over again. Right now what the family needs more than anything is your prayers. Thank you so much for checking in on Avery and I'll do my best to get daily updates posted so that you are all in the loop. I plan to go to the hospital later today, so hopefully I can get some pictures of the little sweetheart up soon.