Last week, Susie had her two month cancer follow-up with her local neuro-oncologist. She had her MRI scans done the Friday before the appointment. I normally request a CD copy for our records and to look at them in advance. This appointment was no different, and the scans looked similar to previous ones. So, we were crossing our fingers that this appointment would be more routine than sit on edge of the chair. Prior to each of Susie’s appointments, I normally make a list of questions to discuss with Susie’s doctors. My questions this time were:
- What are your thoughts on the latest genomic test results?
- How does Susie’s brain region look where she had an infarction?
- Are we seeing any changes in radiation effect?
- Will we keep the same follow-up cadence and if so for how long?
Short story is Susie’s scans are stable, i.e. similar to previous scans. The good news is the area affected by her mini-stroke/ infarction has healed. So, maybe the low dose aspirin worked its magic. We did look at some spots assumed to be radiation effect, as they cross lobes and there is a firm ridge separating the lobes (i.e. no tumor infiltration).
Lastly, the doctor and staff were greatly impressed with how Susie’s cognitive condition is improving, especially compared to one year ago. We will continue the every two month cadence until end of the year, and then hopefully switch to every three months.
Now we need to plan what to do this summer (on a budget :-).
