Yesterday I had my MRI of the brain. Fortunately, I still have a brain. 😂 🧠 I was so happy I didn’t have to drive downtown to get the MRI. Now that they have the machine in The Woodlands, I will follow-up with my doctors there. Much less drama! It is so much easier now that they have the little mirror inside. I slept most of the way through it, but I did have to squeeze the little ball about half-way through…I had to sneeze! 🤧
This morning I met with my eye doctor, to re-check my left eye. It has been getting much better since he prescribed the “miracle drops.” More drops continue. Also adding HydroTears (Flax). I took flaxseed for quite a while and then stopped, as I was trying to save on supplemental costs. Seems it was doing me some good after all. 🤔 I will put flax back on my daily list of supplements, and follow-up with him once more in February.
MRI of the Brain: Wednesday afternoon I heard the results of my MRI from a new PA in The Woodlands. My brain is clear, and no new lesions are forming. Praise the Lord! However, there was one result notated that made me tilt my head with a question. I’m still waiting to hear back from my medical oncologist as to what this all means. Too bad I didn’t have the MRI and then see him. The report described some lesions in the skull. I have a small lesion in the bone marrow on the left side of the frontal skull that was slightly bigger. The last reader did not mention it in October, but this reader noticed it had grown slightly (from 13mm to 16mm), so it is not new. I’ve had mets to the skull since the beginning, so this part is not a surprise.
There are multiple possible reasons for the increase. It could be the treatment is working, meaning it cleaned out the marrow and now the spot that was a lesion is now showing up on the scan. This is often the case with treatment to bone mets. If the cancer is gone, the bone can regrow. Isn’t God good? He made our bodies with the ability to self-heal.
It is also possible this could be an increase in cancer activity. The MRI is inconclusive as it primarily looks at soft tissue, so they will do additional tests to determine next steps. I have a whole body bone scan scheduled for February 3rd, which is my normal procedure every 3-5 months. I am not worried, as it does not do any good to add worry to the mix of everything else we are going through. Please pray this is a result of treatment and there is no evidence of active disease (NEAD).
In case you have been paying close attention, and are wondering, the doctor does not think there is any connection between the bone mets in the left frontal skull and the left eye problems I have been experiencing. I will mention it to my eye doctor, but it is highly unlikely as the mets are in the bone marrow.
If you want to know more about bone metastasis and what it looks like, WebMD has a good slideshow. Or, Click here for an image. You will see all the holes and rough edges in someone’s bone. Yes, this can be painful, and I do get backaches, but fortunately God has blessed me with a high tolerance for pain.
Á la prochaine…until next time…