08/04/09 - MRIs - Out with the Old, In with the New

Posted 9/2/09. I'm so on the ball (posting MRIs one month after they were taken). My last few posts had no pictures, so I wanted to get some up...


MRIs of my eradicated brain tumor
Above are MRIs of my brain tumor discovered in June. It is circled in green (two different views, click to enlarge) because it was "destroyed" by radiation #3. If it were still "alive" it would show up white due to the contrast (an injected chemical) highlighting active blood flow.


MRIs of my spinal cord tumors
Above are MRIs with (left) and without (right) contrast. The tumor circled in green was eliminated by radiation #3. The tumor circled in red was discovered on August 4th on the MRIs shown. Note that it appears as a white circle in the left image due to the addition of contrast.

So there is presently a new spinal cord tumor. Radiation decays over time, so my doctors decided to both create more time between radiation treatments and give myself and my body a break from treatment - so I've had the last month "off".

Next week (9/8/09), they are going to image the tumor via MRI again to see how it has progressed. I would assume I will receive more radiation after that, and probably more chemotherapy after the radiation. Although I'm likely wrong...