Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Another month, another MRI

It's hard to believe this whole drama started on January 25; it seems like a lot has been crammed into less than three months! We had two MRIs this week and a couple of dr appointments. Today, we met with our neurosurgeon to get the report.

The MRIs were good. They didn't show anything unexpected. One of the MRIs was actually a fancy little scan called a Spectroscopy which looks at the metabolic activity (that makes me sound smart but might be total crap - I'm not sure if that's right at all) or chemical make-up of the tissues and can differentiate normal brain tissue from some stuff that doesn't belong in the brain. It showed that there is residual tumor left over from the surgery - the "area of concern" that we've been seeing is NOT just swelling and irritation, although it's likely that a lot of that is there too. However, the good news is that this area of concern (tumor area) has not changed at all since the surgery. So, even though it's bad stuff, it's not behaving aggressively.

This is not terrible news - it's what I expected, and I'm glad to actually have some confirmation of what's going on inside my skull so we better know how to deal with it. It answers a couple of key questions: Is there a need for treatment (yes) and Is there a target for the radiation (yes).

The only frustrating part was waiting at the doctor's office for 4 hours to see him! Oh well, neurosurgeons are pretty busy cutting tumors out of people's heads. I've seen enough Grey's Anatomy to know what's up. (I mean, Dr. Shepherd doesn't even seem to keep office hours.)

So, next is figuring out which doctor and which technology to use for the radiation. There's several options, and a few doctors we like, but we are going to meet with one more in the area to get an opinion on how to move forward. There's things to consider like IMRT, cyber-knife, proton therapy, synergy... Eek, what the heck does any of that mean? I have no idea, so we're trusting the people who have lots of letters after their names who were crazy enough to go to school for 10 years.

Baby Annie is doing well. We're glad she's still a girl :)

Oh and Disney was great! The kids were surprised and we had a fun time as a family and got to see some family and friends too. Just what we needed. Ben and I are off to California tomorrow for our friend Lindsay's wedding. I'll be the largely pregnant bridesmaid stuffed into a dress that I ordered before I was pregnant, and the forecast shows highs in the 50s, but we are excited anyway!

4 comments:

  1. Thank you for reducing so much of this medical terminology into understandable words like, "bad stuff." Last week I got to tell a coworker that she may have heated a metal into the "slushy zone." I don't think that phrase is going to make it into the final report.
    Your family remains in our prayers.

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  2. Susie you have been in our family prayers ever since we heard about your health update. We met only once at CCCI South Asian mini meeting in Orlando Hotel with Thomas Abraham and others.
    Blessings Sweety!
    Cibi & Raju Abraham
    Orlando-CRU Staff

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  3. Susie, you continue to be in my prayers, that our loving and powerful Lord Jesus Christ, who is above thrones and principalities and dominions and authorities, will shrink that tumor, keep Annie in for full term, and heal you.

    Lord Jesus, please burn up any assignments from the enemy against anyone in this family so they can accomplish all You have called them to do. Please surround Susie and Ben and all of their children with Your arms of love and grace as they see doctors and consider options for her treatments. To You be the glory and honor forever! Amen.
    Wanda

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