PET scan results

Today (3/30/09) my oncologist informed me that the radiologists could not find anything to be concerned about from the results of my PET scan. This is great news . My doctor also informed me that I will not be receiving and MRA, but rather another MRI of my brain and a CT scan of my chest and longs.

This is a continued update on that small spot which was found in the right frontal lob of my brain. And it is great news to hear there are not signs of cancer throughout the rest of my body. I want to thank you all for your prayers.

May God’s peace and love continue to be with all of us,
Nathan

More info

After meeting this Monday afternoon with my doctor, I now have more of a plan as far as finding out more about the white spot in my brain. My doctor is not 100% sure this spot is cancer growth. After all, it is hard to truly know what the image is without further tests. The spot is less than half of a centimeter and could have been missed on previous scans since the pictures are taken every half of a centimeter.

In order to find out what this spot is, during this week I will be having a PET scan of my body. The PET scan reveals differences between cells and with dye highlights abnormal cells such as cancer. I will also be receiving and MRA. The MRA is a scan which can identify if this spot in my brain is from a small stroke. One of the side effects of having brain radiation can be a higher chance of having a stroke. This could have happened almost a year ago when I had stroke like symptoms which was thought to be a mini seizure. The MRA will also be able to determine if the spot has changed sizes in the past couple of weeks.

As I mention earlier, the reason for these scans is to beg a better understanding of this spot in my brain. I also want to thank you for your prayers. While we don’t know exactly what the spot in my brain is, my doctor said it won’t take very long to figure it out with the scans I will be having.

May God continue to fill us with peace and love,
Nathan

New Meditations

I have had so many brain scans, CT scans, etc. that I have lost count of the number of times I have received scans. I remember the first X-ray of my chest when I was in Goshen; and I also remember my first CT scan which was also in Goshen. That was around four years ago. These first scans portrayed a treatment plan that was horrible.

Since then, I have received many other scans to monitor how the cancer inside my body was functioning. With great joy, these scans showed that the cancer cells were shrinking and losing their ability to grow. After being free from cancer growth for two and a half years, a six month CT scan (fall of 2007) showed an abnormality in my lung; it was a new cancer growth. This was removed easily by outpatient surgery. Unfortunately, my last MRI (3/2/07) showed an abnormal growth in my bran’s right frontal lobe. While a scan in its self can not diagnose a problem, with my history of cancer, it is likely a new sarcoma (cancer) growth is in my brain. In addition, while I received my scan a couple of weeks ago, I just found out the results this past Wednesday. For a couple of unfortunate reasons within the hospital staff, the new growth was not shared with me or my primary doctor until this date. While two weeks does not see to be a long time, with how fast the cancer has grown in my body, I pray this is not a big deal.

After talking with my doctor, I had a CT scan of my upper body on Friday (3/20/09). The purpose of this scan was to make sure that there are no other abnormal changes in the rest of my body. I will be meeting with my doctor this coming Monday (3/23/09) to discus more about what needs to be done.

While talking with my doctor on the phone, he said “this is very treatable.” This is a quote that I want to keep going through my head as I am the one who is emotionally dealing with it. I also want you all to keep it in your minds as I have come to understand you all have emotional connections to me and my story.

May God continue to bless us as God has been doing for more than four years. May God be a rock that holds us down when everything is going wonderfully and keeps us up when we are falling down. A would appreciate your prayers as once again I have to deal with a known aspect of my life that is still left unknown.

With peace and love,
Nathan