Thursday, November 11, 2010

I wish I could report that Hannah's MRI report came back as NED, all is clear. Unfortunately I can't. I knew when I heard Dr. Atlas on the phone today instead of his PA, the news wouldn't be good. He said there are 3 spots that showed up on her MRI. He knows me, so the first thing he said to me was "I don't think we're dealing with medullo." These spots are right outside the tumor bed, and very faint. They aren't enhancing on the MRI like tumor, which is a positive. He said they are like smudges on a pair of glasses, very faint.

So what are they? His best guess is that it is some type of radiation changes. Possibly necrosis? Oh yeh, necrosis is scar tissue. For right now, he is prescribing a course of steroids for 2 weeks to see if it helps her symptoms of vomiting, headaches, fatigue and nausea. Her doctor said that if she was asymptomatic, he would not be treating her just due to the MRI. He would just watch and wait. If she responds to the steroids, we scan again in 2 months because then the area needs to be closely watched. If she doesn't respond to the steroids, we scan again in 3 months.

Now we're in a holding pattern. I will report to him in 1 week to see if there is any improvement. In the meantime, I am heading to the hospital tomorrow to pick up a copy of the MRI so that I can send it to our neurosurgeon, and our radiation oncologist from Boston. I'm hoping the radiation oncologist can provide some insight. Possibly they have seen this before.

I'm drained, off to bed for the night. Thanks for hanging in with us.


♥Kim