My husband had his MRI last Wednesday at 11:30 in the morning.
Imagine my surprise when I received a call from his oncologist two hours later with the results!
I immediately thought the worst when I heard the oncologist’s voice. Why would he be calling so immediately? They always make us wait a week or so before they divulge the results.
Before I share the results with you, let me just say that we also went to the hospital today for Chad’s shunt reprogramming. The neurosurgeon was on vacation. Our usual PA was on vacation. So we saw someone new. And she confirmed the exact same thing about Chad’s MRI, without consulting our oncologist or seeing his notes or the official report from the hospital’s radiology staff.
Of course, we were hoping to shrink the tumor. As much as possible.
We understood it was a long shot that we would actually be able to shrink IT*, but it was our goal.
Any shrinkage at all would be phenomenal news.
*IT is the pet name I’ve given the tumor. It’s easier to type than Anaplastic Oligodendroglioma.
Unfortunately, we didn’t shrink IT.
IT is mostly unchanged.
We are disappointed.
It’s not the best of news; but it’s not necessarily bad news either.
There is no way to know right now, but we hope that Chad’s six weeks of radiation killed off any free radical cells that were attempting to create another new tumor.
And there is no new growth. That’s good phenomenal news.
So, what does all of this mean?
We’re not exactly sure. The doctors aren’t exactly sure.
We have yet to talk with the neurosurgeon, whose input we value immensely.
We hope he will have some answers for us as to what this means for Chad’s future.
How is Chad doing these days?
He’s doing well. He’s back at work, a few hours a day.
He walks around our neighborhood almost nightly. His appetite is back.
I would say he’s pretty much himself again, just a little easier to tire out.
What is the next round of treatment?
Chad has done everything he can. We are dome with treatment, period.
He’s completed 10 months of high-dose chemotherapy.
He has had a tumor resection, and had a large part of the primary tumor removed.
He has had a full course of radiation with low-dose chemo.
Chad has met his max for radiation – he can not have radiation again.
He is also determined to stay away from chemotherapy, if possible.
We hope he starts to feel more like himself now that treatment is completely behind him.
The only way to know is to wait and see what happens.
And in the meantime, life goes on.
Hi Skye–I can understand how hard it can be to balance what the news means–because there’s good and bad within it all. It’s good that it’s not worse, but it’s bad that it’s not better. The very best, though, is that you are all focused on living. And, what better way to spend the “wait and see time” than allowing life to go on. Hope today, as life goes on, you all feel your blessings.