Pilocytic Astrocytoma

Very good news today. The final pathology report came back today, confirming that the tumor was a low-grade pilocytic astrocytoma. That means there is no other treatment that needs to be done right now, it just needs to be monitored to make sure it does not continue to grow. There is still some of the tumor remaining, that could not be removed. This could either (A) go dormant, (B) recede/get smaller, or (C) continue to grow. Before they performed the surgery they said if they could get 90% of the tumor, there would be much less chance of it recurring. Since they did get 90% or more of it, we are hoping the chances of it returning are small but we don't know exactly. She will need an MRI every three months at first to monitor it, and they will follow her many many years it sounds like.

Okay, so it's been 15 days of living in a hospital...but the worst of it is over, just finishing out her recovery now. The latest silver lining of being stuck in the hospital is that because of Riley's digestion distress they took a stool sample to test for some kind of potential bacterial infection, this could potentially be contagious, so Riley has had a "contact precaution" for the last couple days. This means she can't be in a shared room...bummer! So we got upgraded to a luxury suite, a private room with a recliner, rocking chair, bathroom, etc. So nice. The test turned out negative, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that they don't ship us back to where we were last.

On another note, Avery seems to be doing great. I really thought by this many days in she would be more out of sorts, or more homesick. She has bounced around staying with two sets of grandparents, an aunt/uncle/cousins, and she has adapted well. She probably thinks she is on vacation. She knows Riley had an owie on her head, but hasn't seemed to mind seeing her all wired up and scarred...she is so sweet to little Riley, and she really does "rock".

Just in case you really wanted to see Riley's incision.

Riley is trying to work back up to a regular diet after having so much bloating and trouble with eating anything and everything the first time around. She's be eating "clear" stuff the last two days...Jello, broth, and some sorbet type stuff that she loves.