This past Thursday we received the results that the tumor was actually Neuroendocrine carcinoma. The Neurologist had thought that her cancer was Osteosarcoma because of the tumor being on the skull and it was thought that the tumor on her skull was the primary source before surgery. When the Neurologist met with us after the surgery he informed us that the tumor on her skull was not the primary source of the cancer and we needed to wait for the pathology reports to know where it was. We finally received the report on Thursday stating the cancer was actually Neuroendocrine carcinoma. A neuroendocrine tumor begins in the hormone-producing cells of the body’s neuroendocrine system, which is made up of cells that are a cross between traditional endocrine cells (or hormone-producing cells) and nerve cells. Neuroendocrine cells are found throughout the body in organs, such as the lungs and gastrointestinal tract (such as the stomach and intestines), and perform specific functions, such as regulating the air and blood flow through the lungs and controlling the speed at which food is moved through the gastrointestinal tract.
My mother went to have her stitches removed yesterday ( Friday) from her head and they were able to get her into see her Radiation Oncologist. The Radiation Oncologist has stated that this has stumped them as this type of cancer is not normally found to settle on the skull or around the brain. She does still have the tumor on her spleen and her liver which is normal for this type of cancer but the skull is very rare. Thus the Radiation Oncologist has asked if she could use mom's rare condition to conduct research and write about it. This is something my mom is happy about because it puts a purpose to everything she has gone through and still faces as long as it helps someone else in the end.
They will not be surgically removing the tumors from the spleen or liver and instead focusing intense radiation to these areas. The team of doctors do not want to remove her spleen because it would be an intense surgery and because the spleen is a place that white blood cells trap organisms. If they remove it her body may have to work even harder to fight of viruses and other illness that may come with her Chemo weakened immune system.
She will be starting radiation a week from this Monday and will need to go everyday for 5 weeks straight. Mom will be meeting with her Hematologist Oncologist Monday morning and it will then be discussed when Chemo treatment will be started. The team of doctors have stated that this is a very malignant cancer and they need to fight it aggressively.
Even with the large obstacles ahead of us we have much to be thankful for. First we are thankful that the cancer did in fact settle on her skull because otherwise this cancer has no other symptoms. We are thankful that the Neurologist performed nothing short of a miracle during surgery as at this time there is NO sign of remains of the tumor left on her head all seems to be gone. They still will do radiation to this area as they want to be sure to kill any remaining cancer cells. The Oncologist said that God was definitely in the operating room that day after she read the reports of what was done. We are thankful that mom has recovered from surgery so well. There were risks of her eye sight and hearing being impaired and so far just her hearing is a little off and that could be because of some swelling that should go down. She is up and walking around and talking almost as nothing has happened. She still gets tired but it's getting better everyday. We are also thankful that so far this cancer has not settled in her pancreas as this is where this cancer can be found mostly.
Please keep our mother in your prayer as well as the rest of us as we have a long road ahead of us.
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