Dear Friends,
I want thank each one of you. I have enjoyed all the texts of encouragement, prayers, and support. I want to express a huge thank you to all the people who have stepped in to care for the kids, bring meals, snacks, and help keep the house running while we are in Texas.
As far as updates, I wish I had a better one to give. We are driving home with not much more clarity than we had when we left.
On Wednesday, we saw a neuro oncologist, neurosurgeon, and radiology oncologist. My tumor slides arrived Tues. And have been expedited to hopefully be completed by this Tues. 2/17. All 3 of the doctors were kind, but none could give me a clear path until we know what we are dealing with. They were all split on whether it was necrosis, regrowth or possibly both. Our biggest prayer is for the pathology results to come back with a clear diagnosis so the doctors can come up with the best treatment plan. The neuro oncologist was not very hopeful that any treatment would be very effective considering how quickly it grew back if this is regrowth. She did explain that usually with either type of the possible brain tumors I have that it is not IF it will grow back but When it will grow back. This is very discouraging news. All 3 did say surgery would most likely be needed but the timeline was not as urgent as Hoag. They want an MRI done at the end of the month to see what changes they can see on there.
The radiology oncologist was a very young lady. She also was the most confident in her opinions. She thinks that it is regrowth and thoroughly explained why she thought this. It seemed very convincing to Damien and I. She showed us images of necrosis and compared it with my mri and showed us the differences. She did give us a glimmer of hope. She brought up using something called a gamma tile that is implanted during surgery. The gamma tile would be placed in the tumor bed after they remove everything they possilbly can. The radiation would start immediately and 50% would be released in the first 10 days and then the remaining 50% would be released over the next 20 days. After about 30 days the radiation would be done and the tile will dissolve. In researching this, it seems to be my best option. It has high success rates, 81%-100% success in stopping recurrence in the first 12 months which is better than 30% for other radiation options presented to me. Hoag does not do this procedure and I dont think City of Hope does either, so that may be a way to have insurance approve surgery and the gamma tile to be done at MD Anderson. The radiology oncologist also said she is bringing my case to a tumor board on Friday 2/13. She said she would call me after this meeting to discuss what they talked about and if they had any opinions for me.
The neuro oncologist did say she would try to help me with getting insurance to approve MD Anderson for my care. The neuro oncology team will also have a tumor board meeting next week to discuss my case. So we wait again for pathology, tumor board meeting and end of month mri. We are continuing to surrender and trying to trust in Jesus and His plan for us. Praying that at the end of all this we have a good and hopeful plan of action.
Another miracle we need is for either insurance to approve MD Anderson for care, they denied my consults and we paid cash. Or for us to be given a way to pay cash for surgery and treatment.
O Jesus, I surrender myself to you. Take care of everything.
We are asking for the intercession of Bishop Fulton Sheen. He needs 1 more miracle.
Thank you dear friends for joining us in prayer and for the tremedous support. It truly is miraculous to us, we are humbled and grateful for everyone God has placed in our life. I love you all.
God Bless,
Ashley
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