We are back in our room at 4:00 pm after a long day of stuff. I had to stop feeding Ivee at 4 am cause of sedation, so she is just getting some food in her belly after 12 hours. She was quite humorous after waking up this time. She was a "happy drunk." She keep trying to function on her own, and just couldn't quite pull herself together.
I had a meeting with the radiation oncologist, and he gave me some more info about her last MRI. After reviewing it with other doctors here and comparing to her last film, there is a remnant of tumor at her brain stem. He doesn't believe it is new growth. He believes it is the piece that was left there after surgery. He said that different MRI machines can pick up things that others don't. So, Ivee is not "tumor free" as we thought, but she still doesn't have any new growth. Ideally the doctors want all the tumor resected before radiation, but he said this piece is nothing that they want to remove by surgery. Plus, we all know that it was left there by the brain surgeon back home, cause he didn't want to chance damaging the spinal chord.
Also, the doctors had some concern about Ivee's ventricles. They have increased in size since her last MRI. And of course she still has the fluid on her wound site. After consulting with one another, the want to do a lumbar puncture to rule out anything that might be causing the increase in size of the ventricles.
Okay, now the radiation. The short side affects are possibly... nausea/vomiting/ headaches/ tiredness / hair loss in that area. Long term affects could be ... hearing loss in the right ear / balance issues / hormone problems / learning disabilities and some other possible issues that are rare. She had a hearing test today, so we will know what is going on with that before we really get going. She has a swallowing test Wednesday.
They will continue physical and occupational therapy here. She will also see an eye doctor.
I'm sure I am missing something. Just leave comments if you have any questions. We can receive mail here at St. Jude. I'll get the address and post in on the blog as soon as I can.
About Me
- Hope Foley
- Born in Atmore, United States
- Wife & Mommy. I have a wonderful husband who loves me deeply and three great kids. I believe in my Creator who guides me everyday. My favorite interest are stage/theatre, music/singing, antiques and art.
4 comments:
Hope, I was SO glad to see your blogs again. I thought I had lost you ;-). We continue to pray. I am glad Brittney was able to come with you. Your family amazes me. We love you, Anna C.
Hope, you are so awesome to keep everyone posted. We all want to know what's going on, and it does help us be able to pray specifically for the things you need even though we know our Heavenly Father already knows those needs. I will be praying for NO side effects from the radiation. Our God is big!! He can do that! I will also be praying it is effective. He can do that too! I will also be praying for the doctors there. I'm sure they are the best in their field, and I know they are going to be instruments of God to help heal your precious baby. Hang in there!
Love, Daisy
Hope,
I was talking to our neighbor last night and she mentioned that her son and daughter-in-law lived in Memphis. I explained to her about Ivee and that you were at St. Jude's. She said that her daughter-in-law works at St. Jude's and she does the hearing test for the children while they are there having chemo and radiation. Her name is Joan Bass. We will continue to pray for you, Ivee, Brittney, Emmett and Ethan. Our God is BIG and he knows what Ivee is facing even before we do. Please keep us posted on the how Ivee is doing!!
May God Bless you,
Betsy
Just catching up on things with y'all. I'm not sure what happened to June. We took kids from church to a camp in the mountains the first week of the month and somehow its the 27th. I'm praying for y'all as you're in Memphis!!
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