I went in for my follow-up MRI on Monday and we met with the Neurosurgeon and Radiation Oncologist on Tuesday and the results were not good. I seem to have really determined cancer cells and they are just not giving up.
In September at my 2 month post-op scan my Dr. saw a spot that was concerning and so he wanted to watch it and rescan me in Oct. I just had that scan and what we found was pretty surprising! My tumor that was just operated on in July, is already growing back.
The tumor is growing back on the same tumor bed as before but in a slightly different location. It is the same tumor though, not a new tumor. When I had my operation in July there was a small section where the Dr. was unable to get a large margin. This was due to the fact that the resection was right along a major artery in my brain. They can't get any closer than they did in surgery. They took out all visible cancer cells and had hoped that that would take care of it. However, there is new growth in that area and they can not eliminate the whole tumor because of the situation with the to the artery.
So, the current treatment option is to have stereo tactic radio surgery for the THIRD time. This radiation will be whole brain radiation localized to a smaller area. In short, I will have a large section of my brain radiated in November. This time there will be 5 daily treatments of a high dose radiation. (And yes I will lose a lot of my hair!)
We are hoping that *the third time is the charm* for this as our options will be more limited now since operation is not possible with the artery involvement. We are pretty shocked to find out how quickly it has grown and my Dr's can not guarantee success with repeat radiation, but we are trying to stay hopeful.
I appreciate all the love and prayers and am grateful for the friendships I have with each one of you! You never know what life will bring, I hope you can all live life to the fullest! Hugs, Heidi
