The long awaited pathology has arrived. Sort of. I’ll get into it in a minute here. First of all, I want to say we received it last week and have been sitting on it, processing for a few days. We feel ready to talk about it. Somewhat ready, anyway, whatever that means. We haven’t been ready for any of this. And there is definitely still more to come.
Bradys tumour was originally diagnosed as an ependymoma. He has been upgraded to (ready?) an Anaplastic Pilocytic Astrocytoma. Boom. We were told there are two kinds of tumours that grow in the spinal cord. The ependymoma is the better of the two evils. And Brady has the astrocytoma. It was about 2” tall, which is actually huge for where it was, on his spinal cord.
As things go sometimes, Brady’s tumour is super rare. Even after digging into it, there are a lot of unanswered questioned. Enough uncertainty to warrant the tumour being shipped off to another doctor in San Fransisco for molecular and genetic studies and further consultation. We’re all a little jealous that the tumour gets to go to California and we don’t. 😒😎
So. The biggest questions answered. Yes, the tumour is cancerous. We were aware all along that it “probably” was cancerous. While Brady was still in surgery, the tissue was put through an initial test, and it was stated that cancer cells were visible. So we’ve been waiting for the stage. Stage one is obviously optimal, if you could call any stage of cancer “optimal.” The pathology talked of stages one, two and three. It would appear the tumour was a little wishy washy, as Dr. Guselle said, and there are different stages of cancer in different parts of the tissue. There is NO mention of stage four, though, which is a relief. Two and three still aren’t great, but we’re celebrating small victories over here.
The pathology notes “The patient is successfully going through post-operative rehabilitation, having not lost all spinal cord function to become paraplegic. This is despite the size of the tumour and the amount of tumour resected. Thus, preservation of spinal cord function is a major factor in considering treatment.” Take from that what you will, but in it, I read HOPE! Not only because they’re noting that there is function, and that he is successfully going through rehab, but also consider the fact that this is noted in the pathology. The part about Brady’s recovery has nothing to do with the results of the tumour they resected. But they’re watching him. And that is pretty exciting. As Brady defies odds, we are praising the Lord for the progress he is making. God is giving him the strength, and optimism, and drive. All the tools. And Brady is using them, working HARD for change.
With Brady’s pathology finally in order, we can look a little further ahead. There will be rehabilitation, and then radiation. Possibly other treatments. Brady already has two appointments (over the phone and video chat) booked with cancer doctors this month to make decisions and plans for what comes next, where, and when. I don’t know what the answers will be, but I’m pretty sure we’re on a very long road.