One of the doctors from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute of Boston Children's Hospital called me today. They had just gotten done discussing Kaitlyn's new scans and felt that the cut/angulation of the images was a little off from the one scan to the other, and basically, that meant they saw a little growth in the tumor. Nothing monumental, but a little different than initial, informal diagnosis here in Denver (no growth/change). Their diagnosis is that this lesion is a low-grade (non-aggressive) glioma, not a demyelinating lesion. Thus, their recommended treatment plan would be to start chemo probably within the next three months (if Denver still wanted to wait 3 months and re-scan, that would be reasonable, the doctor said). He told me these types of tumors are not fast-growing, but they tend to be chronic in nature. In essence, within months or a few years after chemotherapy, they generally grow back. But, the good news is that, in most cases, when these kids hit their 20s, the tumor stops growing. So the plan, then, is to stop or reverse the growth in these kinds of tumors with the least toxic types of therapy available until they get into their 20s and the tumor does not grow back.
This is only the first of the official opinions and second opinions to come back. Johns Hopkins, Mass General and the Denver team have yet to offer their feedback. Stay tuned. *sigh*
Any news is good. I'm so glad it hasn't grown a lot. I hope she is able to be a kid and have fun! And that you can have some comfort in knowing that He who holds the world in His hands, holds you, too.
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