Lumbar tumor, treated with Radiation

From the MRI yesterday, we learned Liz had a tumor growing in her lumbar 3 disc, which is putting pressure on nerves to her leg. (Other discs also had growths. We also know the wedge of T11 is still there.) We went to Huntsman for planning and immediate radiation treatment, a one-time dose that should kill the tumor. Hopefully it will shrink quickly as it grew, and relieve the pressure and pain. (Dr Tward said 50% shrink and 80% have less pain.) Liz has had a lot more pain just today than before and took oxy (2 or 3). She has been nauseous as well. Dr. Tward said if he had done a five day dosing it would have a 10% chance of returning but with the single dose it has a 17% chance. It can be treated again later. This area was NOT treated in April's radiation (even though small tumors were present), because they don't want to irradiate too much of the bone marrow at a time.

Liz stopped BRAF drug (last dose Th night) and we feel fine about its interaction with the radiation today. Any skin burn/rash won't show nearly as much on her low back and belly. By Monday's SRS on her head, she will have been off for 3 full days, almost 4. It also seems to matter more how much she has right after radiation, when its effects are highest.

I told Liz I think her leg pain/numbness has been a tender mercy, even if it doesn't feel like it. By learning of this pain Th night, we added the MRI of her lumbar the next day, and got it treated the second day. Perfect timing. It is hard to think of it being good when she is feeling so sick and in pain. Her shoulder pain was probably due to the Zometa and is waning.

We had an extra adventure on the way to the hospital today. We decided to take the suburban so Liz could stretch out better (sitting hurts more than lying down or standing). As we stopped in SLC the car died. No power at all. We pushed it around a corner, and Brad fiddled with scissors and got the battery connected again. A few blocks later it did it again. We got it going, and duct taped the scissors in place to get the rest of the way. Brad dropped us off and went to fix the problem. He got back soon enough to get a tour of the various X-ray machines in the radiation oncology department - fun for a guy who works in that field. :) We were very pleased with the care Liz got and especially that she got in so quickly, on a Saturday.

SRS machine is fixed, and numbness in her leg

Dr Chris Anker has called us daily with updates on the SRS X-ray machine, and we heard this morning it is fixed. Yay!!! We have an appointment today for MRIs: to map her brain for SRS treatment on Monday and Tuesday, and also her lumbar spine area.

This week Liz has had pain in her left hip, thigh, and knee, getting lower and somewhat stronger daily. She has stayed horizontal on the couch with her leg elevated to ease the pain, and she takes her morphine and ibuprofen for it too. We figured it was from her Zometa infusion Monday.

Then last night (Thurs) Liz noticed she couldn't feel the heating pad on a portion of her lower leg, just below the knee on the outer front. She said it feels like pins and needles around the numb area. We know numbness and tingling are signs of possible pressure on her spinal cord, so there was a flurry of emails and calls this morning. So today she will get an MRI of her lumbar spine area too, to see if there is something new there. Liz also said she felt a bit less pain over the last few days in her lower back. She thought maybe the wedge that was left of T11 disc finally collapsed and thus hurts less (and it could have moved toward the spinal cord too).

Liz slept in her back brace to help keep things straight. She will wear it more often now, I think. She has started the steroid again for swelling, and is off her BRAF drug today so she can do SRS treatments.

We feel so glad to hear her SRS treatment will happen soon, despite Dr Shrieve and Dr Anker being out of town next week. We are grateful for the support of so many!