Symptom Theory

We received a call from Dr McDonald at IU this evening.  He's the one that oversaw my radiation treatment.  He says in looking at the head MRI, he sees signs of swelling in the area of the brainstem that would be potentially affecting the right side of my head and my right leg.  He said the timing would also be right for this sort of swelling to be due to radiation.  He says the fact that tumors in the spine are barely visible anymore leads him to think this is not tumor growth.  He is going to call Dr Hammack on Monday to discuss with her.
As for treatment, he says that either hyperbaric oxygen therapy or some medicine (or both) can help the body get more oxygen to the affected area and have less damage/more healing.  He said it's hard to know at what point this swelling will stabilize on its own, but these treatments will help.  We are elated to finally have an answer that seems to make more sense.  We'll post more next week but had to share the exciting news now.

Eating has been going better the last few days as I've learned how to eat the right foods and am learning to mix applesauce with everything.  And several have brought soups and other soft stuff that has been great.  Thanks for praying for us, and just pray that we have wisdom next week as we decide which treatments to continue/start.

Love,
Derek & Leann