Today was our appt with Joshs' neurologist. We were given quite a bit of information today, I am still trying process and remember everything that was said. First we will start out, that we haven't seen this doctor in years.... and when we told his assistant about the last several months, it took him over an hour to look over everything and get his "homework" done before talking with us. Our appt was at 9am, didn't actually see the doctor til after 11am.....
We have a NAME!!!! The doctor actually told us what kind of tumor Josh has. It is a "Low Grade Astrocytomas" pay special attention to the "Low Grade" that is very important. Low grade means slow or no growth!!! How exciting is that????? He also said he is referring us to the cancer clinic. He told Josh not to be afraid of that word "cancer" they also deal with "just" tumors. We will go there to start monitoring the tumor. Most likely every 3 or 6 months MRI's. Low Grade brain tumors rarely metastasize (travel to other locations in the body) and usually have slow growth or even no growth. They however can change into high grade tumors, hence the monitoring through MRI's.
He is also referring Josh to "Child Life"-- Child Life is a profession that offers services to meet the psychosocial needs of children and youth in hospitals and health care settings. Josh will have a social worker to help him deal with the stresses, and someone to "vent" too.
We also discussed weening Josh off his seizure medication, this is a great surprise, he has been on meds since he was several weeks old. (little bit nervous about this one.... but he hasn't had a seizure in 6.5 years)
In just a month, Josh will be drug free....YEAHHH
It was a very good appointment today, and John and I are very pleased with all the info that we received. We thank God for this joyous news and pray that things will continue to go well.
GOD is GOOD!!!!
We thank all our friends and family for their prayers, and the love that surrounds us.
Great news, Brenda! We thank God with you!
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