Confirmed Stable

Brain cancer is...

...confirmed stable.

Good news.  Above, Dr. Cloughesy compared this month's scan (right screen) with the previous scan (left screen) and confirmed the other reports:  No change.  The whitish areas that appear could indicate tumor or scarring, and in Darrell's case, it's scarring, Dr. Cloughesy reasons, because the white areas haven't changed in so long.  He says scarring won't likely go away in the future either.  Brain scars.  Huh.

Brain scan fun fact:  By Darrell's count, he has had 20 MRIs of his head.  How many have you had?  I have had 0.  Twenty is a lot of scans, right?

With this post, with the exception of Optune, and if all goes well, we give our cancer eradication activities a break for 11 weeks. Hurrah!

Thanks for seeing us through, Team D.  Again.

Dramatic Bonus Content

Before Dr. Cloughesy sees us, Darrell first sees one of the doctor's associates, such as a Nurse Practitioner, who administers a neuro exam to check for any signs of changes to the brain.

We can usually anticipate who will give the exam, so Darrell starts practicing days in advance ("What's the date?"  "Spell world."  "Spell world backwards."  "Remember these three words.") Today he was seen by a new Fellow, Dr. Chow. New Fellow = New neuro exam.  Here's Darrell's highly dramatic reenactment of day's exam:

"As fast as you can:  Touch my finger.  Touch your nose.  Touch my finger."

He passed, but he reports that the pressure was intense.