Now that I have made this blog available to more people, I thought I’d repost this. More updates to follow, as of today we haven’t heard back from the radiologist on Sunday’s scans.
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Ok, first of all – I cannot believe how fortunate we are to have so many people praying for Justin/us. Wow. Wow is about all I can say to sum it up, because I can’t really express how fortunate we feel for all of the phone calls, and emails. THANK YOU. It makes it that much easier to get through stuff like this when you realize how many people care. Justin does not come from a big, close family and it makes him so appreciative of mine. On top of that, we couldn’t ask for better friends. How lucky are we??
We had the appointment with the radiation oncologist today. I know the word oncologist sounds scary, but Justin’s tumor is not cancerous. We both really liked her a lot. She seems to be down to earth. She sat there and answered all of our questions and took the time to explain in detail all of the options.
Those on my last email, I sent out a link for stereotactic (spelling?) radiation that the neurologist had recommended. It’s a new high tech type of radiation that goes in and just zaps the tumor, and is supposed to leave the rest of the area unaffected. Those treatments typically take about 5 or 6 different appointments. After speaking to the radiologist, this actually may not be the best option in this case. It’s possible they may want him to have the old fashioned radiation, which entails him going in EVERY DAY FOR 5 WEEKS (YUCK!!!!!). You know what, whatever works we are along for the ride. But ouch on the 5 week factor.
Justin actually gets to go in on Sunday for a high tech 3-d MRI at the hospital. They then superimpose this image over a catscan and the films/files all go through several different doctors for the opinion on the best option. They have to be very careful, the final determination will be based on how close to the optic nerve this tumor is. The biggest risk is vision loss, but there could be vision loss if the tumor got big enough to push on that optic nerve. The risk for radiation effecting it is MUCH lower than that.
Another very cool side note is this radiologist just got a new partner who is from the Mayo clinic. Mayo clinic is one of the leaders in treatment for what Justin has, so that is very reassuring! We are confident he’s in good hands – not to mention he’s in the Big Guy up above’s hands – he’s in a good place!
Just wanted to update everyone = will let you know more when we find out! Now I need to run and do a fast cleaning job. The social worker is coming for one of our final foster care home studies, and with Justin on crutches and my lack of a cleaning gene, this place looks like a tornado hit it! 🙂
Thank you again for keeping us in your prayers!!!
Amy
I'm just sayin... 