October 15, 2008

Latest MRI Results!

Hi Everyone!

We got some unexpected good news today! Evan had his MRI yesterday and it looks like the tumor has shrunk again!

I have to make one disclaimer though. Our doctor got called away on a family emergency and won’t be back for a few days, so I don’t have personal confirmation from him about this. However, we were too impatient to wait through the weekend to get the results - so we talked Evan’s primary care physician into printing out the radiologist’s MRI report, so we could read it ourselves. Since I knew that many of you were anxious to hear something as well, I thought I would go ahead and tell you what it looks like to us.

Two months ago, the tumor measured 2.3 x 1.3 x 1.9

Yesterday, the tumor measured 2.3 x 1.3 x 1.4

If my math skills aren’t too rusty, that’s roughly a 25% reduction (in mass) since the last MRI.

When Evan was originally diagnosed, 14 months ago, the tumor measured 4.4 x 3.9 x 2.7

So basically, from its original size, the tumor has now been reduced by 90%!!!

Considering how aggressive this form of cancer is, these results are no small miracle! They are surely the product of all your prayers!!! Thank you so much for keeping us in your thoughts, through all this time!

We had been told that this chemo would be most effective during the first few months of treatment and then just level off. So, when the last MRI came back with no change, we thought maybe we had seen the last reduction we would ever get. We had even made plans to take a break from treatment if this MRI came back again with no change. Obviously, as Evan put it, “We can’t quit now!” We definitely needed some strong motivation to face another four months of this, and I think we got it!

As a side note - in my August update, I mentioned that we were thinking about switching to a 3 week chemo schedule instead of the every-other-week schedule we were already on. But then we discovered that Evan’s chemo dose would have to increase if we switched. He would have longer to recover, but the higher dose would probably make him sicker in the short term. We decided that wasn’t an option, so we are still on the every-other-week schedule (just in case anyone was confused).

Thanks again for all your support! We’ll keep you posted!

With love and gratitude,

Margot