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We never get a good week

We had some amazing news recently. But then we had to head back to the ER yesterday. We never get to have a good week.

Good news for a change…but wait…

Back in the ER again
Originally wanted to share some pretty good news with you.

Alison’s original tumor was huge. What was removed was the size of a grapefruit and that only represented about 80% of it. The fact she was walking around symptom-free for so long is a miracle in-and-of itself.

The remaining 20% was dealt with via radiation and chemo and after all that, that huge single mass was divided up into four discrete areas of tumor.

In the last MRI last week, two were not to be seen – which means that:

  1.  technical error happened two months ago and there never were those two spots of tumor to begin with,
  2. a technical error happened last week and the tumors were missed, or,
  3. those two spots disappeared.

Of course, both 1 or 3 would be ideal for us. But we won’t know for months.

The other two spots of tumor are large.

The most dangerous one, in the middle of her head, is unchanged. And that’s actually pretty good news because she’s not had any meaningful treatment since January.

And now for what was the best part: The other known piece of tumor has shrunk.

Why that is, is anyone’s guess. Perhaps it’s the insane things I make her do. Perhaps it’s the lingering effects of the radiation. Perhaps it’s a combination of the two. We don’t know.

Actually, this would normally be astoundingly good news, but for us – for her – it’s never just good news. We always get a side dish of: “But wait…”

Last night, we were in the ER again – the 10th time in 10 months – because she’s acting the way she did earlier in the year: Sleeping all the time, out-of-it, and very nauseated.

Why that is, is anyone’s guess as well.

After a night of tests, they couldn’t figure out why, and they also noticed that her bloods are bad again. This time, however, I insisted we go home rather than spend another week in a hospital with people poking and prodding her only to not be able to figure anything out again. So late last night, brought her home.

The short theory is that the surgery we didn’t get in July, we shoulda gotten.

It’s never so straightforward, is it? Figuring out what is felicitous and what isn’t.

A month ago, I was thrilled they let her go home and skip that surgery.

Now, I’m not so sure. I’m not sure of anything these days. Except that I have to, somehow, find a way to get my family home. Somehow.

\’

Location: the @#$@##@$@# hospital again
Mood: conflicted
Music: This is the joy that’s seldom spread

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4 replies on “We never get a good week”

Have you considered trying Dr. Charles Teo from Australia? He does surgeries on brain cancer that other doctors refuse to do. I don’t know how feasible this is in your situation but if you google him, you can find lots of info

Thanks for the comment and sorry for the late reply; things have been crazy around here.

I just read about Dr. Teo, thanks for suggesting him. Unfortunately, Alison is way too weak to travel as it is, let alone around the world.

We actually have a surgery scheduled for this month, but it’s not directly for the brain cancer, rather, one of the cascading issues that arose from the treatments. It’s always some fresh hell to deal with.

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