MRI results and Today's Procedures

We received the results from the MRI and they were mixed.  There was no cancer in his spine, so that was excellent news, but there appears to be some new growth in the original tumor site, so that’s not as good of news.  Since it’s in the same area, it’s not as if the cancer has spread, but it obviously would have been better if it wasn’t there.  The Oncologist, Neurosurgeon, and physicians from St. Jude’s are going to review the films together and come up with a consensus as to the best treatment plan moving forward.  There is a line in the sand of 1.5 square centimeters or below of tumor that’s considered average risk and from what I understand, they measured either 1.7 or 1.8, so it’s not a huge difference, but they have to have the breakpoint somewhere to determine the Radiation amount to give.  We should hear something definitive over the weekend or Monday at the latest.

 

Update:  LeAnn just spoke to the Neurosurgeon and he doesn’t think it’s tumor at all that showed up in the scan, so we’ll get some final word soon.  From what he said, the Oncologist feels the same, but they want to talk to St. Jude’s since it’s their protocol that Cam will get.

 

He had the Apheresis Catheter put in today which will be used to pull blood out, filter out the stem cells, and then replace the blood.  It’s a tube that’s put into his chest that will stay through the Radiation treatments.  The good thing is it is used for all the labs, blood draws, IV meds, etc, so it keeps him from getting stuck all the time.  The bad thing..it’s a tube stuck in his chest, so it’s not the most comfortable thing to have.  As usual, he came through like the trooper he is and is taking a nap on the couch after stuffing his face yet again.

 

They also did a Lumbar Puncture to test the cerebralspinal fluid (CSF) for the cancer cells, so if it comes up clean, the MRI didn’t show anything in the spine, and then they come to an agreement the “stuff” in the scan isn’t tumor, then that’s the Triple Crown of good news.  He’ll still get the same overall treatment…just the Radiation dosage won’t be as high and the long term prognosis is much better.  The Oncologist is pushing to get the CSF tested today to see how it looks, so if we get news, I’ll update.

 

Overall a good day considering…

 

Connor’s 10^th birthday is tomorrow (March 1), so pray he can have a happy birthday and forget about all this for a few hours and have some fun.