Bruised Spirit...

Sorry to take a few days before posting since Ashley's last appointment. Things have been pretty busy. So anyway, Ashley saw the oncologist again on Friday. On the way there she had a really bad epsiode. The pain was so intense she got sick to her stomach, and she started having that pain in the back of her neck along with the eye pain. This is conscerning the doctor because the neck pain seems to be building similarly to how the eye pain started, increasing in frequency & intensity. Also that the pain level nauxiated her. During the test to check her peripheral vision, she didn't seem to be able to see in the outer regions that she could 3 weeks ago so this is of conscern as well. It was on the left side where that tumor is larger than the right side. Her MRIs have currently been every 3 months, however the doctor does not feel we should wait until next month, and has scheduled her for MRIs next week. He wants an extensive MRI on her brain on Monday, and another on her full spine the following day, on Tuesday. One of the MRIs will also include an MRA which will scan her blood vessels as well. They have to inject a dye, and it will help show if there are any constrictions that the MRI alone doesn't show. These scans will be more time consuming and he does not want her under the general anesthesia for that length of time all at once so that's why he made the decision to do two separate days back to back. Monday, we have to be there by 7:15 AM, and Tuesday, we have to be there by 8:15 AM. It's an hour drive from here each way so will be early rising those days. He is consulting with the opthalmologist again, and we will likely be going back there again in th next couple of weeks. We see the oncologist again next Thursday, after the tests have all been done. He didn't go ahead and do the draw for the Liver Function Test yet. He decided that it could easily be done when they run her IV during one of her MRIs next week, either Monday or Tuesday, and that way she doesn't even have to know they did it because she'll already be under the anesthesia. He's always thinking of her comfort, and I really like that. Next week he will be in Boston at an oncology convention, and plans to consult as many of his collegues from around the country as possible, to see if anyone else comes up with any other thoughts on Ashley's particular case. He upped her dosage on the anti-seizure medication from a 1/2 tsp. 3 Xs a day to 1 tsp. 3 Xs a day, since we weren't seeing any changes. He said we'll try this dosage for at least 4-6 weeks to see if there are any changes. He says he still plans to leave chemotherapy as a last option, but that we may still end up considering her again for the treatment. He did stress that it would be a year long treatment if we come to that, but hopefully that will still be awhile yet. Rush-hour was horrible, especially being a Friday. What is normally an hour drive, took 2 1/2 hours to get home. It was 91 degrees that day,.. thank goodness for A/C! It was stop & go, bumper to bumper, barely moving a few feet at a time for the first 2 hours, just to go the distance that normally takes a half hour,.. insane. We were so glad to finally get home!

Brittney is doing well. I kept her well medicated for the first few days, and then after that she was able to stop all pain meds completely, and hasn't complained of pain much since... only minor soreness a couple times. We saw the orthopedic surgeon yesterday. He confirmed that the break is too high to cast. She has to keep using the sling for 3 more weeks, but we don't have to wrap her with the ace bandage anymore so she's happy about that. They x-rayed again, and we go back for another follow-up in 3 weeks. He said they'll x-ray again, and we should be seeing new bone growth by then. The hardest thing for Brittney is that he said she can't do anything that will endanger her to a possible fall, or injury to her arm for 3 months, and that especially includes riding her quad. Well, for any of you who know Brittney well enough, you know that she's pretty mad about that. That means no riding for her, over our next 2 main camping trips this year,.. 4th of July & Labor Day. Physically she's doing okay, but her spirit is a little bruised at times.