Panic Stations!!! - Phone call MSKCC in New York

O.K now I am in PANIC mode!!! I just got off the phone to MSKCC and Dr Modak has told me that I need to get Dylan to them within the next two weeks for an initial consultation and tests. He basically said that without any treatment, Dylan’s condition will deteriorate everyday, and that we cannot wait until the end of January to get him there. By the time we get test results etc, it will be the end of January and that’s when he should be on the operating table not arriving in New York. Dr Modak said that he is confident that the tumor can be removed and then we can follow up with a round of chemo to get his immune system down, then hit him with the 3F8 antibodies to see if we can clear the bone marrow. I did not have the courage to tell him that finances are a concern to us. With what I have already, it should pay for the initial consultation and tests. The international centre from MSKCC will send me a bill and request it be wired over before I arrive. Then I will need at least $200,00 US for the surgery though, and that would be by the end of January for sure. So I will have to make dates to fly over in the next two weeks and hope that while I am gone, that somehow the money is raised in time for surgery. There is so much for me to organize before I go and it scares me to think that I may end up flying back because I don’t have the funds. Well, all I can do is try, and at least get an official second opinion from the best hospital in the world for Neuroblastoma. I have just been told by a friend that they have a relative that can pick us up from the airport, which is a god send. Tomorrow I will try meeting with our local members of parliament to see if there is any possibility to get help from the government. If nothing else, they may be able to help me with the visa.