Saturday, June 8, 2019

Bad News comes our way ...

I had my most recent follow up Brain MRI scan on Wednesday May 29, 2019. This the regular check while I am on the post surgery treatments after the brain surgery (my third one) on January 9, 2019




With no observable symptoms so far, I had reasons to be very optimistic that this MRI will be another of those routine procedures I go through on regular basis. Hence I was in a very jovial mood when I headed to the Foothills Hospital for the MRI last Wednesday. 

Over the next few days I started seeing signs that this wasn't the normal flow of events. On Tuesday, June 4th I observed the first symptoms attributable to Tumor growth. All of a sudden, I started feeling dizzy and un-coordinated. Luckily this happened while I was at home in the evening and not when I had traveled to Boulder in the afternoon.

We got the confirmation about the bad news next day at our follow up appointment with my NeuroOncologist Dr. Mark Barnett.  Dr. Barnett confirmed that the news from the MRI was bad indeed and that the tumor is back with a vengeance. 


Here is the summary of the MRI Lab technicians report about my most recent scan:

Impression:

  1.  Interval progression of glioblastoma multiforme since March 29, 2019.
  2. Left parietal enhancing neoplasm appears significantly larger especially along the anterior component with increased extent crossing the corpus collasum into the right parietal lobe.
  3. Right Temporal lobe subcentimeter nodular enhancing foci again noted in the post surgical region.
  4. 2 new nodular enhancing foci in the right basal ganglia.
  5. No Midline shift, herniation or acute infarct. 
It does seem scary and it did indeed scare the willies out of me. It seems like my end date got a good bit closer and clearer with this newer developments. 

Dr. Barnett is exploring the possibility of getting me onto a Clinical Trial at CU Anschutz Medical Campus in Denver. If that does not come about, the fall back as of now is to start treatments with Avastin (bevacizumab).

Hoping and praying for the best while keeping a positive outlook and being as optimistic as possible. 

The story so far

It has been a month since I decided to start a blog to journal my journey with Glioblastoma Multiforme after bei...