Good News!

This week Matt had his first set of MRI's since his December surgery. We went down to the appointment fully expecting to talk dates for his 4th craniotomy to try to get rid of the rest of the tumor, and then radiation. I have always felt uneasy about radiation. The thought of radiating my 10 year old's brain just freaks me out! I know it might be necessary some day, but will happily push it off as long as possible - forever would be excellent.

Anyhow, Dr.Walker (the neurosurgeon) was pretty psyched to see that the remaining tumor is stable! You have to understand what 'stable' means to our family. Matt will most likely always have some tumor in his brain. It is not in a spot that the doctors can just remove it. Stable is about as good as our world gets! The tumor actually measured a bit smaller than his December MRI showed. This was most likely due to swelling that is present right after surgery, but is gone now. Because of the stability, Dr.Walker recommended doing NOTHING! No radiation, no surgery, no chemotherapy, nothing at all! We have to clear that idea with Oncology, but I don't anticipate them arguing with the recommendation. This is very exciting news for us, as Matt has been on some sort of treatment since August 2007. By the time Matt gets his next MRI's, he will have been free from treatment for 5 months. This gives us a wonderful chance to focus on his Endocrine issues. These are more difficult to manage on a day to day basis, as after every surgery we have to work hard to get him stabilized!

So, basically, unless we see a physical change in Matt that necessitates treatment earlier, we are FREE until this new little one arrives to our family. I think it's a tremendous blessing!

Some sad news, though, my Grandfather passed away last Friday, and we had his funeral service today. He has been in poor health for several years, but it still makes me sad to see his time on this earth come to an end. Matt was particularly sad. With his strong emotions coming through uncontrollably, funerals are very difficult for him to attend. He loved my grandpa, and would often receive coins as gifts from Great Grandpa Willie. Great Grandpa will be missed by our family - and especially by my tenderheart little boy!