3mm

It’s been 3 years since Jeff’s last chemo treatment and he has been having MRIs every 4 months since. Last time jeff saw the oncologist, I was hoping he would extend the MRIs to every 6 months since the results had been so positive for so long. I was even a little disappointed in October when he said he was going to schedule in 4 months again and then maybe after that he would switch to 6 months. Over the last year Jeff’s recovery has improved so much that he has been able to watch the kids while I work full time and he’s been taking on extra chores around the house. He has been making my hectic schedule an incredible amount easier as he has done  the dishes every night while I study for my primary care paramedic diploma. I have noticed over the last month or so that Jeff’s speech has been sounding increasingly mumbled and nasal. He’s had a lack of motivation but I easily brushed it off as a seasonal depression with it being the end of winter and so ferociously cold out. I was so wrapped up in school, working full time, Malcolm breaking his arm and then both the boys getting what we suspect was chicken pox, that I wasn’t even thinking about the appointment jeff had with his oncologist. They have become so routine at this point I just assumed he would say everything looks good and we would see him in 6 months. I got home on Friday evening after a week of being away at school and Jeff broke the bad news. Earlier that day he had seen the oncologist and found out that the tumour in his brain had grown. They found a 3mm sized lesion on the right side surrounded by an increased amount of fluid. I was able to talk to the dr on monday and got a little bit more information. The oncologist had a discussion with the neurosurgeons at the university of alberta hospital and they said, at this point, the new lesion is so small that surgery would be very difficult at this time. They would like to see an MRI 4-6 weeks after the most recent MRI so it sounds like that will be scheduled for 2-3 weeks from now. If the lesion has grown, the surgeons will have no choice but to do a surgery to obtain a biopsy and determine the most appropriate treatment. If the lesion has stayed the same size, they will continue to closley monitor Jeff. In the meantime, the oncologist would like to make sure there has not been a spread of cancer anywhere else in Jeffs body and has scheduled an MRI of his spine, a CT of his entire body, and a spinal tap. These will take place this week and next week and we will patiently await the results.