One in a Million

Well today I spent a lovely 1.75 hours in a tube getting an MRI. After that I met with my neurosurgeon to go over the results. It was a long day at the hospital...

There are no parts of the tumor left, and there is no regrowth of the tumor - great news! There is a 15% chance that a tumor would regrow in the same spot, so I'll go in for regular MRIs to keep up on it. Based on the size of the tumor, it was probably growing for 5-10 years before it was caught. This is unusual for someone my age as most meningioma tumors occur in people in their 40s/50s.

Dr. Balousek said I have myelomalatia, a thinning of the spinal cord, just in the spot where the tumor was. The cord above and below the tumor looks great - he was very surprised by this (I of course am not because I know that Jesus is at work in my body!). He expected that the cord below the injury line would have shriveled up and died by now because of the lack of blood flow. The cord looks the same as when he left it there in surgery - it hasn't gotten any thinner, but it hasn't regenerated either. Please pray that my spinal cord will regenerate! He said the process could takes months or years if it ever happens, and he said he be surprised if anyone told me that I'd be out of this wheelchair one day. I'm a one in a million case he said, and no one has any idea what's going to happen with me.

So I didn't really feel positive or negative about the meeting today. It was basically exactly as I expected. It had to be this way so that when I start walking again it won't be because of medicine or man - it will be a miracle! I can't wait for my follow up appointment in six months when I walk in his door and shock the heck out of him!