A partial answer

We finally learned something today! Our urologist in OKC let us know that she spoke to our Houston urologist over the weekend, and he told her that Levi actually has adrenocortical carcinoma, a rare cancer of the adrenal gland.

Apparently we misunderstood the purpose of the blood test he had done prior to the biopsy. We now know it was to check to see if the tumor was secreting hormones that could make the biopsy dangerous, not checking for adrenal gland cancer.

Despite multiple calls and messages sent to the doctor at MD Anderson, we have yet to hear from him, but we were told he sent Levi a message about the results. Perhaps we're having some technical difficulty because it wasn't received on our end.

Anyway, the adrenal gland sits atop the kidney like so:

It's only Levi's left adrenal gland that is affected, but we've been told his kidney will have to be removed as well due to the large size of the tumor. We'll know more once we talk with the surgeon. It's likely that some lymph nodes in the area will also be removed, as that is the mode of transportation the cancer must have taken to reach his left lung.

At this point we don't know if surgery or another type of treatment (chemo/radiation/etc.) will be first. We hope to learn that this week (if not tomorrow!). In the meantime, Levi's lung cavity is filling with fluid again, and it will need to be drained in a few days. Obviously this will continue to happen until the cancer is treated. There's talk of inserting a type of catheter into the pleural space so we could drain it on our own at home. The doctors will decide whether or not to go that route once a treatment plan is in place.

We don't know as much as we'd hoped to at this point, but we do know a little more than we did yesterday. It's starting to sink in just how long of a process this is going to be. Pray for endurance and faith. We hope to have more to share soon.