After arriving at Barnes, Dad completed another MRI w/ contrast as well as a full body CT Scan (to test for cancers/infections in other parts of the body). The full body CT Scan came back clear, which was a great sign. The MRI results on the other hand indicated the two "masses" are likely cancerous tumors - because of their location and the fact that there are two of them, the doctors believe (regardless of the full body CT Scan being clear) the tumors are coming from a cancer in some other part of the body (possibly a cancer/mass somewhere that is too small to yet identify).
Over the next couple of days, Dad also completed a full body skin exam as well as a complete eye exam to test for melanoma and eye cancers, since neither of these cancers would show on a CT Exam. In addition to the full body CT Scan, his skin and eye exams also came back clear.
The doctors say dad is an unusual case (this can be a good thing - I asked :)) for a few reasons: 1. because he has 2 tumors in his brain, but they are on opposite sides, yet both affect the same area of function, fine motor skills (typically if there are two tumors in the brain, they usually affect different areas of function) and 2. Because all other full body testing up to this point has been clear of cancer and they have not been able to identify a source (They believe there is a cancer somewhere in the body that may just be too small to pick up at this point – or we hope).
The tumors are small in size and in areas where the Neurosurgeon believe they are easy to remove (great news), but because both tumors affect the same area of function, the tentative plan is to surgically remove the left tumor (the one causing the symptoms) and biopsy this tumor to identify a source. After testing this tumor and hopefully identifying a source, the plan is to remove the 2nd tumor and target/treat the source. The surgery is tentatively scheduled for this coming Friday, October 14th but, because Dad’s case is unique, the doctors have decided to present his case to the Board of Surgery for this area of specialty to discuss "the plan” prior to moving forward with the surgery this Friday.
We are all still in shock I think – especially because Dad really didn’t have many symptoms and he looks, acts and talks just fine. He is his typical humorous, stubborn self! J There are still a lot of unknowns, but we are thankful the tumors are operable and there are no other visible signs of masses/cancer in other parts of the body – hopefully the next two weeks will continue to lead to more results that are positive and easily treatable. In the meantime, we are keeping our spirits up and putting Dad’s stubbornness to good use J
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