MRI Results from 1-year-post surgery

We just got back from our trip over to Vancouver, to BC Children's Hospital, for Jaymi's 1-yr-post-surgery MRI, as well as an ophthalmology appointment and a follow-up with her neurosurgeon.

We made the trip lots of fun, including two ferry rides,  a Brownie event that happened to be the day before Jaymi's MRI (at the border of the US and Canada with thousands of other girls),

 
learning how to geocache together (the three of us),

Dairy Queen,

lots of hotel fun,

and a trip to the aquarium (thanks to the Granna, who got us free passes last year, and also paid for a gift for Jaymi in the gift shop).

Jaymi did fine, as she always does.  She thinks the trips to Vancouver are fantastic, including the MRI experience, for the following reasons:
#1 - she is asleep for the MRI
#2 - she gets a popsicle afterwards
#3 - they blow bubbles while putting in the IV
#4 - the IV doesn't hurt because her hand is numbed first
#5 - she gets a ferry ride to get there and back

Unfortunately, the results weren't what we had hoped for.

The MRI showed some re-growth.  Not a lot, as this is a slow-growing tumour, but enough that we cannot wait a full year for her next MRI.  We have to go back in December of this year.
As of right now, I guess the tumour isn't causing any problems, which explains why Jaymi has no symptoms at all.  She is completely fine!  So, in December, the doctor says that if the tumour stops growing, they do nothing, and MRI again a year from December.  If it keeps growing, at some point, they would have to go back in and do more surgery.  And of course, there is always the possibility that it will begin to shrink again.  That, obviously, is what we are praying for.

So....not the results we were wanting, but like I said, Jaymi is totally fine right now.  She is 1 week away from finishing Gr.2 and is looking forward to a summer full of fun!

Results!

Well, the trip to BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver went well. Jaymi went through her MRI, sedated, and was fine. She didn’t like the IV at all this time, but she handled it okay. They even put a hospital bracelet on her stuffie that she brought with her!

We met with her neurosurgeon to do a follow-up appointment and look at the results. The piece of the tumor that is still there hasn’t grown at all. It actually looks as if it has gotten smaller, and technically, I guess, it has, but that it because it was swollen before and now it’s not. So...it’s still there, but nothing has changed – which is good. Very good.
The doctor was so happy with how everything looks, that he doesn’t need to see her now, until next June, when she’ll have her next MRI!

She also saw her ophthalmologist in Vancouver, who says that although her eye is not completely back to normal, it’s halfway down (better) from where it was in June. We will have an ophthalmolgist appointment in 3 months again, here in Victoria, and then in June in Vancouver.

She had a neuropsych. appointment while we were there, and we get the results of that, in a couple of weeks. That will help us figure out what kind of help she needs in school.
The study we are involved in, is a 3-year study of the late effects of a posterior fossa tumor after treatment (surgery and/or radiation) and we will meet with the study co-ordinator next June and the June after that, to participate in that as well.

And of course, we went to the Aquarium the first day and had lots of fun before starting all of these appointments. Jaymi loved seeing the two baby beluga whales that are there as well as the sea turtle and a new favourite for her – the sea otters. We also got to do the newest thing at the Aquarium – the 4D movie – fun!

We are all exhausted from our trip, but happy with the results.

We let Jaymi 'decorate' the inside of the car for our trip (since we were bringing the car on the ferry). She spent about an hour doing it, and probably began with about 40 stuffies in there, until we got her down to, maybe, 15?