MRI Results

     Emmett had his routine MRI at UNMH on August 27.  They have noted a little spot in his brain stem, is my understanding of the location.  Nothing has ever appeared in this location before and it's not his usual area, which makes me think it could be nothing.  It's 7x5 mm and when we talked to our team in Boston, they looked back on his April MRI and were able to see a teeny tiny spot there.  So it's possibly something that is growing very slowly or something that has always been there and just hasn't shown up in the particular sequencing they've done before.  Seeing as the whole point of routine MRIs is to look for tumors, any difference they see from one scan to the next is written in the notes as 'concern for malignancy.'  While unsettling to actually read those words, it doesn't necessarily mean recurrence, they're just doing their job and noting absolutely any difference as something to look into.
     The Boston team has asked us to come their way for some follow up testing.  We fly out on Saturday.  We will stay in Boston until the team is confident that everything is okay.  It could be a matter of days, weeks, or longer. What makes this feel more urgent is that we're jumping on a plane and heading across the country again, but mostly that is our team being picky.  They want to perform an LP and would prefer to see the sample and test it themselves, rather than just getting results from another institution.  (A lumbar puncture is where they put a needle into his spine and take out some spinal fluid to see if there are any cancer cells floating around in it.) This is why we find ourselves taking off so suddenly.  Dana Farber also has their brain tumor conferences on Thursday, so they will discuss Emmett's case then.  We are curious to see what his surgeon says;  she seems to be the one that is less wishy washy and more definite on her opinions.  (Last time this happened she was out of town for the week.  When she finally responded to concerns about the spot they found she essentially said it was ridiculous and didn't know what all the fuss was about.  #bedsidemannerF  #waytoendaconversationA+)
     We have been down this road 2-3 times now since he finished treatment just over 2 years ago and it has always turned out to be nothing of concern.  So we are just heading down that road again right now.  I honestly suspect we will be back in a few weeks, but you never know.  We don't want to cause too much alarm and consider this kind of routine still, but of course prayers are always welcome and appreciated!  We know that's what has gotten him this far!