Alisha and Jean Left; Good News Today!

Alisha had to leave today to go back to her family in Arizona : ( It seems like she just got here yesterday. Jean took her to the Detroit airport. It was great to have she and Lauren here. Everyone that has come has been so helpful...driving me to the grocery store, taking me to appointments if Chad can't, etc. Here's a pic of Alisha and I before she left:

We went to see Dr. Spencer, the neurosurgeon in town that is following me after surgery. I started having some funny swelling on the left side of my face, neck, jaw, ear over the last couple of days. Less concerning since it's the side opposite the side of the tumor, but still something worth checking out to rule out an infection. I started thinking maybe it just had to do with the fact that I'm only laying on my left side, and everything is draining that way, so all the swelling is going down. He told us that this is a very common reaction post-op for my type of tumor resection...an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system that leads to swelling...which would also explain the swelling I've had in my left leg, which sent us in for a venous doppler late one night last week after seeing the neuro-oncologist at U of M who insisted I have a doppler that night because of the swelling and some leg tenderness. The doppler was obviously negative. Thank you Lord!

While we were with Dr. Spencer today, he asked us if we had seen the pathology from UAMS. We told him we hadn't actually seen it, but that many people had told us what it said, and that we were confused because we had been told many different things. Good news from that conversation! The majority of the tumor is a grade 2 (benign) with some portions being grade 3. The confusion was in how the pathologist wrote the report. It was written 3/4. But there is no in between. There are certain features microscopically that make it a 3, and certain features that make it a grade 4. It was very specifically stated that there was no necrosis in my tumor, which is what it takes to make it a grade 4. Praise God!

We are still waiting for the pathology report from Johns Hopkins and from U of M. After that, the neuro-oncologist will be able to make a better recommendation. However, after the explanation today, Chad and I are much more hopeful that chemo will not be needed. It's when a tumor is grade 4 that chemo is insisted upon. It's more ify with grade 3.

I have an appointment with the radiation -oncologist tomorrow for more preparatory work for radiation. No treatment yet. Please continue to pray for my appointments and for the further pathology that is yet to come back. Also continue to praise God with me for answered prayers and good news...of a total tumor resection and an low grade tumor! Thank you all for your continued support. We will continue to keep you updated.