Second Test Result

Cytology results came back today and showed that the 13 cells found in her spinal fluid are NOT cancer cells. Yeah! Great news!

One Test Result

Received results from blood test today. Came back negative for HCG and AFP which are tumor markers. Good news! Still awaiting results from the cells found in her spinal fluid from the lumbar puncture.

Home Again

Abby was discharged from the hospital tonight at approx. 10 PM. Today she had an MRI and a lumbar puncture. So far we know that there is a "light" on the pituitary gland that was seen on the MRI. That is believed to be from the radiation. Her lumbar puncture had a 13 cells in it that are being sent to a lab for examination. We will not get the results of that until next week. In addition, she had a few blood tests yesterday. One showed that her thyroid levels are low and she was given meds to improve that. Another is a protein level to determine if there are any tumor markers. Results from that will take a few days. She also had an eye exam from the Ophthalmologist and it was determined that she needs to wear her glasses 24/7. She has a follow up appointment at the end of October with the Ophthalmologist.

Being admitted in the morning

I have not written a blog update in awhile. Things have been going well for Abby. She is back in school, she was feeling well, her hair is growing back and generally happy. Soon after school began, Abby had been complaining of headaches. She went home from school early a few days. It was thought that she was having headaches from adjusting to her new glasses. Within, the last week and a half Abby has been extremely tired. She has come home from school early and missed a few days of school to come home and sleep. She has taken 2-3 hour naps sometimes 2 times a day. She went to see her Pediatrician yesterday. Labs showed that she is not anemic and felt that she must be fighting a virus. Well, parental instincts felt like it could be something else. Cori and Craig were feeling anxious and worried, so Cori emailed the Neuro Oncologist today and he got back to her right away. He thought it may be a delayed response (reaction) to radiation. It is common to have these side effects months after treatment is over.

Abby is being admitted to Children's Hospital in the morning for approx. 2 nights to run multiple tests. She will have an MRI and lumbar puncture to make sure the tumor is not present. Other tests to rule out endocrine problems (hormones) and rule out hydrocephalus. Primarily they will be looking into "Radiation Somnolence Syndrome" which is a side effect from radiation.

I will post more as we get results from tests.