MRI Results

Rosalie did a wonderful job handling her MRI this morning. She woke up very peacefully from the anesthesia and we didn't leave the imaging center until she was with-it enough to eat her breakfast.

Then Rosalie had her portrait taken at the ped-onc clinic by an organization called "Flashes of Hope." It was really sweet. They had a make-up artist and a professional photographer taking pictures of the oncology kids. Rosalie wore lip gloss and they put sparkles on her eyes.

Since we were already at the clinic we were able to squeeze in our appointment with Dr. Banerjee a little earlier. She has pretty good news - she personally is not worried about Rosalie's MRI - but there were two spots that the neuro-radiologist brought up. And we will have to follow-up with both of these areas of concern.

The first is a spot on the spine. Dr. Banerjee thinks it is a blood vessel based on the location. But unfortunately they will need to do another MRI of the spine (using axial imaging - if I am getting that right) to verify whether this is a blood vessel or tumor. Here is the good news and bad news: The bad news - the radiologist who was looking at Rosalie's MRI while she was under anesthesia did not pick up this spot - had he or she picked up this spot while reading the scan they could have just kept her under anesthesia a little longer to do the axial imaging. But here is the good news - the first radiologist to see her scan did not see this spot - or perhaps they too thought it looked like a blood vessel. And so the fact that the first radiologist looked over this spot makes Dr. Banerjee more confident that this is a blood vessel. We need to get this MRI of her spine done as soon as possible. So I am hoping that we can get this done in the next week.

The second area of concern is a faint crescent around the tumor bed. Dr. Banerjee seems even less worried about this area because she believes that it is brain tissue affected by radiation based on the following features - it makes a perfect crescent shape (tumor would be abnormally shaped), it shows no enhancement, and she has seen this a lot with radiation to the brain. She is going to bring Rosalie's MRI to tumor board on Thursday to get more opinions from neuro-radiologists, neuro-oncologists, and radiation oncologists. If they seem concerned we will have an MRI of the brain in six weeks (not sooner because they would want to see if anything changes that occur over a six week period). Dr. Banerjee is hoping that they will all weigh in that this is brain affected by radiation and then we will not need to have an additional MRI of the brain.

For me, this experience is just another wake-up call about how scary cancer is. And a wake-up call for remembering the important parts of Rosalie's development. It makes me realize that my concerns with potty training or my concerns with Rosalie's shyness pale in comparison to the reality of making sure that Rosalie stays cancer-free.

If you are wondering how I am feeling - yes, I had a good cry on the drive home. But I have to tell you that during the entire appointment with Dr. Banerjee I felt just fine because she honestly did not seemed worried about these areas that the neuro-radiologist brought up. We have known Dr. Banerjee for almost two years now and she is NOT one to sugar-coat. And Rosalie herself was the one who made me feel the best - she was just so smiley and happy the whole day. I have to believe that it's her way of saying that everything is all right.

So there you have it. Unfortunately not a glowing post stating, "Hip, hip, hooray!" But we will get to the bottom of this and we will let you know whatever we find out.

In the meantime, please keep Rosalie in your prayers.

Love,
The Reibels