Radiation Prep and Infusions

On March 18th and 19th, I had two busy days up north with Kim! My brain MRI on February 20th showed growth in four tumors and the decision had been made to move forward with targeted radiation on those spots. Fortunately, as I shared in another post, we received insurance approval for those tumors. The 18th was a day dedicated to preparation for that radiation.

I started with an appointment with Dr. Burt, my radiation oncologist and it was a fairly straight forward appointment since we've done this before. We didn't have too many questions, other than about the cause of the growth. I asked if it was just swelling in the process of dying and she said that was very unlikely, which wasn't necessarily the best response, but it is what it is! After that appointment, I went to radiation prep. This is where they make the mask that holds my head in place. Here are some pictures from that session...

These are the pieces that are used.

They are then soaked in hot water to make them easy to form around my head

 

They then stretch the pieces tightly over my entire head (front and back) so that it can harden. Once it hardens, my head is unable to move at all inside of the mask. This holds my head in place during radiation so that my healthy brain tissue doesn't accidentally get irradiated.

The treatment planning session only takes about 20 minutes. They do a CT scan of my brain once the mask hardens that they can use to help plan the radiation. After the treatment session, I had CT scans of my body and then an MRI of my brain. The CT scans were originally scheduled for the next morning, but due to the earthquake, they were moved to Wednesday, while I was already there. I had hoped to do the brain MRI prior to all of the appointments and treatment planning sessions so we could discuss the results, but things didn't work out that way. I wouldn't know results until the next day...

That evening, Kim and I stayed at a hotel for medical patients in Salt Lake City. We couldn't eat out, obviously, but we picked up Noodles & Co. for dinner and enjoyed some time together!

The next day, Thursday the 19th, I had an appointment with my oncologist and an infusion scheduled. We went over my brain MRI images and had great results! Three of the four tumors shrunk! And one got bigger, but it was still weird. Either way, it was good news. Does that mean the tumors will continue to shrink? My radiation oncologist says no, they will likely regrow, but it was decided to only irradiate the one tumor that got larger and to watch the other three. Here are the images (the left side is the most recent image)...

This is the one that got bigger...but it doesn't look much bigger and it's odd shaped.

We were also informed that there was no new growth in my body and some of the tumors shrunk. Overall, it sounds like things are under control in my body which is great. Of course, it is known that melanoma typically spreads to the lungs and brain, but it is good that the tumors throughout my body are under control. After that appointment with my oncologist, Kim and I headed over to the infusion center for an infusion and we enjoyed some lunch together while I received my infusion :)

After my infusion, we headed back home! This was one of the longer trips in a while, but it was a productive and good couple of days. I always love spending time with Kim and it was nice to have that time together. We have seen a lot happen during this journey that testifies to us of God's love for His children and how involved He is with all of our struggles. Choosing faith in Him over fear of the circumstances is a daily choice, but it is a choice that we can all make. I'm grateful to know of Him and to have a relationship with Him. I know He lives and that if we choose faith in Him, we will find the trials of this life much more manageable.

#FaithOverFear