Thursday my Jeff had labs, brain MRI, and appointments with radiation oncologist and his neurosurgeon.
His doctors are not only phenomenal physicians, they’re just “good people”. We are on a tough path and I’ll forever be grateful for the kind souls that rally around Jeff to ensure they provide the best care possible. Sometimes there just isn’t a fix, but that’s certainly not due to lack of trying.
Jeff’s radiation oncologist specializes in both brain and spinal cord. Although the radiation to Jeff’s knees did help with his mobility, it didn’t prove to be the magic solution. Any improvement is vastly appreciated, nonetheless the overall improvement was disappointingly minimal.
Jeff has a PET scan today. The radiation oncologist wants to review these scans first and then possibly move forward with another MRI (which she has optimistically already scheduled) in hopes she’ll find something to target that will provide additional aide resolving Jeff’s leg weakness.
Some of the areas she’s focused on have already been radiated. Should she find spots to target, she said they will radiate to kill the cancer in lieu of palliative radiation.
Our super good news from the radiation oncologist and neurosurgeon is that Jeff’s brain still looks great!
There is one spot on the bone that has gotten bigger, however at this time it’s not threatening to break through into his brain.
The neurosurgeon feels Jeff’s brain mets came from the mets on his skull. This is a better case scenario as opposed to the tumors originating in his brain.
The bummer news is that his PSA continues to trend up. It has gone from 76.5 ^ 101 ^ 158. Jeff has only had 2 infusions of carboplatin/cabazitaxel. Perhaps PSA flare or just needs a little more time to work, whatever the case, I’m not ready to believe chemo might not be working.
Regardless of what his PSA numbers are, it’s gonna be the PET scan that gives the real picture of how he’s doing.
The PET scan results will likely hit the portal prior to our next appointment. Generally the results need to be dumbed down for us, so it’ll be the 14th before we have a clear understanding on how Jeff is doing.
Pictured: our newest tradition; “waiting room selfie”. Note, despite the masks, one of us is a giant goofball and smiled for the picture. Hint: it wasn’t him.
~ Stephanie
#teamjeffgallagher
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Pancake_Lefse
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It is great that you have a good rapport with his docs . They really do all that they can ! I see you pancake as his third and fourth leg holding him up always . Your love is so deep . He is blessed with you . I am sorry for what must be horrific suffering . I pray for miracles🙏😔❤️
That’s great news about Jeff’s brain, I know how worried you were ….. good news is always appreciated.
Went to my brain doctor a while back too.
The good news he said : your brain is clear and sharp with only about 40% Lupron fog yayahahahaya. But : he said my old crumpled, broken …diseased body was dragging my brain down and I need to get a newer, better , less abused model to keep the brain in !!!
I love to read your posts Stephanie. I think they are written with the tears in your beautiful eyes and mixed with the fragrance of your warm heart! Good luck all the way to both of you 💕.
So much of this is waiting ... Like standing on the edge of a cliff along the ocean and shouting into the fog awaiting the echoes in response ... Maddening at times for sure!
Bless you both and I hope and pray some good news come from the reports!
The smile 😂🤦♀️ I’ll admit this isn’t the first masked selfie I’ve smiled in, only the first one I’ve outed myself haha 🤣 thank you for your kind thoughts ❤️❤️❤️
Good Luck, take it one day at at a time and enjoy each other. Dont worry about what you cannot control just make this day the best one possible.
Wonderful team...... Mutt and Jeff... Thanks for the update.... and the Mona Lisa smile...Great thing about being a team is that you can always blame the other person for your mistakes....Like hearing good news.... so keep it up......
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Whole Brain Radiation
Great News, and Disappointment
Looking for one case or one study
A little Great News! 
Looking for some hope
