The Oncologist Called

The new bottom line: they want to do radiation.

The first time we met with Dr. Wright, the oncologist, was when the labs on Teague's tumor came back. At that time she recommended no treatment but to have an MRI every three months to check for regrowth. But she did tell us that once a month all the oncologists, radiologists, and neurosurgeons have a meeting to discuss new patients, and that every now and then they'll come out of there with a different recommendation.

So it is with us. Glad we had a warning.

Still, it's surprising because they had told us that Teague is too young for radiation. But Dr. Wright explained that that's true when they radiate the whole brain. That's when it affects development. In Teague's case, they want to target the site of the tumor.

She said that ependymomas are less likely to grow back when they're in the top portion of the brain, but the ones in the lower portion are different. Guess you can't get much lower-portion than the brain stem.

We're meeting with the radiation oncologist tomorrow afternoon to discuss. So I have today to get my questions ready. They're already forming. I'm going to need stats, figures, all the what-are-the-benefits and what-are-the-side-effects questions I can think of.

All I know right now is that they want to do outpatient radiation Monday through Friday for six weeks. He would have to be sedated to keep him perfectly still during the zap. And with a daily treatment, they'd put in a PICC line so he wouldn't have to get stuck with a new sedation IV every day.

Looks like we're turning into long-term patients. Maybe we're not the people who get to just say, "Hey, thanks for getting the tumor out. See ya."