Hello everyone,
I just heard from my dad, and he said that everything went very well. They spoke to the surgeon and to one of Doctor Guarnaschelli's partners after the procedure. Mom was relaxed and joking all day-- much different from the anxiety surrounding last time around with radiation. She feels good now and is even planning on making it to Sonny's basketball game tonight if she's not too tired. Amazing, right?
Now they wait for Dr. G (radio-oncologist) to make an appointment for a follow-up scan in two to three months. Phew! Feeling very lucky and grateful right now.
Blessings to all,
jk
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Friday, January 6, 2012
Best of the Bad News
As many of you have heard, the doctors found a small spot (measured
in millimeters) on mom's last two MRI's. After much debate, they
decided that it is most likely a recurrence of the SNUC tumor, even
though it is in a totally different area (the cerebellum rather than the
frontal lobe). Even though that's rare, it would be more rare for her
to develop a completely different type of tumor. As one doctor said, it
would be like lightning striking twice. We were a little disheartened by the news at first, but we soon decided that this was really the best of all possible bad news.
They found no other areas of concern in the PET scan, so they are going to focus on the spot. The consensus regarding the treatment approach is that she should have Stereo Tactic Radio Surgery (aka STaRS). This is the "one dose" of radiation that they mentioned earlier. It's basically a very intense, precise dose of radiation that will remove the tumor. So even though it is called "surgery," there's no cutting involved. Just radiation.
She was fitted for the radiation mask the week before Christmas, so everything is set for her to have the procedure next week. They would have done it sooner, but she had planned to visit Allie and Natalie and families in Virginia this past week and the doctors were very much in favor of her doing that. So, she's back home as of last night and resting up for the big day.
Hope that 2012 has already brought you many blessings and that it holds many more,
jk
They found no other areas of concern in the PET scan, so they are going to focus on the spot. The consensus regarding the treatment approach is that she should have Stereo Tactic Radio Surgery (aka STaRS). This is the "one dose" of radiation that they mentioned earlier. It's basically a very intense, precise dose of radiation that will remove the tumor. So even though it is called "surgery," there's no cutting involved. Just radiation.
She was fitted for the radiation mask the week before Christmas, so everything is set for her to have the procedure next week. They would have done it sooner, but she had planned to visit Allie and Natalie and families in Virginia this past week and the doctors were very much in favor of her doing that. So, she's back home as of last night and resting up for the big day.
Hope that 2012 has already brought you many blessings and that it holds many more,
jk
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)