SO, after a week of nerve-wracking anticipation, the official word is that the MRI and PET scan results seem conflicting. Nice, eh? The PET scan is showing the area of tumor to not be uptaking any sugar. The PET scan in June showed that it was taking up sugar 2.5 times faster than the rest of the brain. So this either means that the tumor has responded to treatment and is downgrading/dying, or that the test was a false negative. The MRI, however, shows a slight increase from the MRI in April, indicating tumor growth. To be specific, the area of tumor has grown by .08 inches (yes, very mild). There are several things with this. This could be growth that happened between the beginning of April, when I had my MRI to mid-June, when I started treatment. I wasn’t on any treatment for those 2 months, so that’s entirely possible. Or it could be swelling from the response to treatment. The tumor will swell slightly upon die-off. Or, it could be that the tumor is actually growing. The tumor is not enhancing, which is very good. This suggests that it has remained a lower grade tumor despite the pathology of a high grade tumor after my February surgery.
What’s the next step? Good question. At this point, I am trying to get another PET scan schedule to rule out a false negative test. If we can do another scan and prove that the results are true, then this is EXCELLENT news. I think that I will for sure continue doing IV therapy of some sort, especially if the PET scan results are the same. The idea with this treatment is to stay after this thing, in hope that we can finally break it down. The clinic in Oklahoma said that brain tumors can be quite pesky, as we’re quite aware, and take 3-4 rounds of treatment.
The other possibility is that I will start on Temodar (chemo pills), but continue to do IV therapy, which actually compliments the chemo and makes it more effective, as well as keeps my immune system strong. This seems like a logical next step, as Temodar has very mild side-effects. Radiation is definitely out of the question. This will be a very last resort.
So this leaves us at needing a ton of prayer for wisdom. Please pray that I will be able to get another PET scan and that this tumor is indeed responding to treatment. We know that God is good and has us in His grip. He’s definitely putting us in a position where our faith is continuing to be tested, but what better peace is there knowing that He is in control?
Thank you so much for all of your prayers. We have definitely felt them over the past couple of weeks!