Mucky Bone Pancake

Brain cancer is...

...looking like scar tissue.

The best and most important news from Dr. Cloughesy this morning is that, in his evaluation, Darrell's tumor site looks like it just contains scar tissue, no sign of any scary cancer-looking stuff.  (Of course visual inspection is necessarily limited, but coming from Dr. Cloughesy, we'll take it!)

Darrell will have another 1-mm slice MRI in 8 weeks.  What a relief!  See you next year, UCLA!

Now, about the pancake.  It's the bright white "u" Dr. Cloughesy is pointing at here:

He says the mucky pancake is in the bone, not in the brain.  We conclude that its location was made clear by the UCLA Tumor Board and perhaps the recent MRI.  Dr. Cloughesy says that, most important, the pancake is unrelated to Darrell's GBM.  Currently the plan is "watchful waiting," with continued regular MRIs.

If we ever need to do something, a PET scan would be a next step.  The PET scan would tell us if the pancake is "hypermetabolizing," which would indicate some new bone tissue growth.

Here Dr. Cloughesy is pointing to the place in Darrell's head where the pancake is located. 

Pointing from the front, Dr. Cloughesy's finger was on Darrell's cheekbone, below his eye.  This location, according to the doctor, would make for an invasive biopsy.  

The news of pancake's bony location has launched a string of Internet research here. We see Dr. Noblett tomorrow, so more reporting later. Just to tempt you: Did you know have a skull base? It's the bottom of your brain box.

Last thing: We told Dr. Cloughesy that it is Thanksgiving week and thus we wished to express explicitly our deep appreciation for his expertise and care. I couldn't do it without tears, which made me realize just how very grateful we are. 

Happy Scar Tissue Day!