I figured it was about time to give an update to everyone regarding Kari and how she is doing. It's been some time since I talked to some of you, so I'll just give a brief recap.
Kari ended Chemotherapy on May 31 and had a follow-up PET scan at the end of July. We were, of course, hoping for a clean read, BUT there was still some activity in her chest, along with some in her pelvis, that the doctor wanted to keep an eye on. So she had a second PET scan earlier this month. Unfortunately, the activity in those areas had increased enough that her Oncologist recommended another biopsy of the lymph nodes in her chest to double check to see if there was anything to be concerned about.
The preliminary results on the biopsy came back inconclusive, but her oncologist still suggested meeting with a radiation-oncologist to discuss the possibility of radiation treatment. In the meantime, he also ordered an MRI on her to get a closer look at the activity in her pelvic region (near her left ovary).
We met with Dr. Baer today and he went over both the PET and the MRI with us. He did recommend radiation for the area in her chest, seeing as the final results (from U of M) on the biopsy did still show Hodgkins. However, he was concerened about the area in her pelvis. It is right near a branch of arteries that runs near the ovary and the MRI results aren't real clear whether or not it's something in her lymph nodes or something else.
He said there are 3 ways we can address it: Sit on it and wait and see if it changes (do another scan in a few months), go ahead and treat it with radiation (however, it would fry her ovary making it useless) or basically do exploratory surgery to see if they can locate what the issue is. Dr. Baer isn't too keen on letting it just sit, nor is he wanting to put her through surgery if nothing is found. He is consulting with a few colleagues to discuss what they think and will be getting back to us later this week.
Kari did say she felt that doing the surgery would be something she would be more inclined to do, especially seeing that after a 4 cycles of chemo the Hodgkins was not completely gone. She also is not interested in frying her ovary. Dr. Baer did say if surgery were the way to go, he would likely have us go to Mayo or something along that line.
So. That is where we are at this point. Sorry I haven't updated more consistently, but I think I was just waiting for everything to come back clean so I could send out a "SHE'S CURED" message. Instead, just continue to please keep her in your thoughts (as I know you all will). I have been amazed and impressed and so very proud of how well she is managing all of this. She is an inspiration to me!!
This was a group message I sent out to some family on Facebook. Cancer is such a pain in the ass. There is nothing simple about it. I don't know what I was expecting when Kari was diagnosed with it last January. Maybe I thought that since because she had a fairly simple cancer that was easy to treat, she'd go through treatment and be done! Well, obviously it is not turning out to be that way. It's just so much for someone her age (just turned 20) to have to deal with. Especially now with not knowing what the activity in her pelvis is all about. If it turns out that it is cancer and it needs to be treated with radiation, then she needs to consider how it will affect her ability to have children later on. It's just a lot.
So, at this point we are just waiting to hear from the doctor later this week to see what he recommends. Either way, it's going to be a big decision for Kari.
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