SRS delayed - machine is broken

As I think I wrote before, the X-ray machine used for SRS treatments has been broken at Huntsman for over a week. They got a part from Germany on Friday and hoped it would be fixed by Monday. No such luck.

Liz went yesterday to do the SRS planning MRI at 2pm. Because Liz had no success Friday with the IV, we were asked to get the IV line in at Infusion, who sent us to the blood lab nurses, who asked for the doctor who ordered the line, and we waited a while. Then Dr Anker called and said not to do the MRI because the SRS machine is still down. He was apologetic. He suggested Liz gets back on the B-Raf drug and then we can do the SRS when the machine is back up.

I don't like having her go back on the study drug if they might get it working in a day or two, as she already was off it for 5 days. (Dr Ribas said 4-7 days off, before and after radiation.) I asked if she might get treated elsewhere sooner. He said she could go to IHC / IMC for treatment. That would start with a consult appointment, then their MRI, then they use the "halo" to hold you still. (My word; he said pins, which are screws that go into your head. I saw the metal halo frame on TV long ago.) When Liz heard this she said she wanted to wait for the Huntsman machine, so she can do it with the mask instead.

Liz's veins looked good because she drank a lot all day Sunday, and a nurse there said she could do her infusion of Zometa now instead of on Wed, saving her a trip later. We got the infusion and Liz was glad to be done with that. Now we just hope the machine will be up and running shortly because the longer we wait to get the brain tumors the more radiation it will take. They are very small now - the biggest was about 1/2cm x 1 cm on 5/5 - and we'd like them treated asap before they grow much.

So she took a half dose of her study drugs last night. We hope the machine will be fixed and she can quickly get treated with less time off drug again. It is a guessing game we don't like to play. We want her to benefit from study drugs and not miss taking them for long; we also want to minimize effects of radiation on her skin/scalp when she is treated. Please join us in praying for those who can fix the machine to do so promptly. Thanks.

Tracy