1 June 2009 - Appointment at QE Hospital - MORE GOOD NEWS

Deb had her fourth MRI scan since the radiotherapy treatment on 22 May. Today's visit to the QE was to see Dr Sanghera and get the results. It was more good news. The scan showed that the active part of the tumour (the grade IV part) was stable and had not got any bigger since the last scan. This is now 4 months without any significant progression of the disease. The scan also showed that the large mass of the low grade part of the tumour was considerably smaller than at the last scan. Dr Sanghera was pleased with the progress and following Deb's good blood test results (WBC - 10.5, RBC 4.16, PLT 207) prescribed another month of continuous chemotherapy.

MRI Scan

We looked at the scan at length. The grade IV part is on the right hand side of the tumour which is in the right frontal lobe of the brain. Although we had discussed it before I asked Dr Sanghera what that specific part of the brain did. He explained it controlled emotions and behaviour. I asked how the brain was being affected by the tumour and he said the main problem was the mass effect i.e. the volume of the tumour would put pressure on adjacent parts of the brain.

I asked how the low grade part of the tumour had shrunk. My understanding was that the chemotherapy attacks the active parts of the tumour by disrupting cell division. The low grade parts should not therefore be significantly affected. Dr Sanghera said the chemotherapy affected the genetic make up of the tumour cells and sometimes low grade tumours could also be affected. (I'm still none the wiser. Ill look it up on the Internet and ask him again next time we see him.)

When we saw Mr Kay, the surgeon, when Deb was first diagnosed, he said that brain surgery might be reconsidered if the tumour shrunk considerably during treatment. Given the shrinkage observed on the scan I asked if we should now be reconsidering surgery. It was decided that while Deb was stable we would not pursue surgery but this would be reconsidered if there was any deterioration.

Steroids

Both the frequency and duration (but not the severity) of Deb's headaches have increased in recent weeks. Deb has also been feeling more tired and is resting for longer during the day. Dr Sanghera asked Deb how was her quality of life now compared with six months ago - better, worse or about the same. Deb said 'about the same'. We discussed increasing the steroid dose but decided to leave it at its current level (3 mg per day)


Next MRI scan due in 2 months time.