The MRI of the brain had a comment about 'worsening mastoid disease'. Apparently the area around the mastoid bone on the right appears to have fluid and appears inflamed. This is odd because Andy has not had any fevers or ear infections that we are aware of. He has not even had any bad colds recently. He has not complained about ear pain. He seems to have a pretty high threshold for pain though. Just because he hasn't complained doesn't mean he hasn't had any. We had a visit with an ENT who looked in Andy's ears, performed an ear pressure test and a hearing test and all were normal. They have decided to do an CT of his head in about three weeks to make sure the area around the mastoid is back to normal. The radiologist, oncologist and ENT all think that it is just fluid but want to get the CT to be sure.
If everything is normal Andy will be moving to an 8 month scan schedule instead of a 6 month schedule. He will see his oncologist every 4 months. If everything is not normal, I'm not sure what's next.
The bottom line is Andy is feeling great and doing all the normal things 4 year olds do.
Andy's CT is scheduled for January 4th. They will compare it to the MRI and we will probably know the results a few days later.
Jan 4, 2002 - Andy had his CT today. I was really proud of him because he did not need to be sedated. They told him if he could be still they would not need to give him a pinch to give him the sleepy medicine. He was as still as a little statue. When we first got there they said they may have to do 2 views depending on what the first view showed. They did the first view and then they said we could go. I'm taking that as a good sign. Andy still has no symptoms of anything so I really think he is fine. We should have official results in a few days.
Jan 10, 2002 - Andy is fine. The CT showed improvement around the mastoid. There was still a little fluid but nothing that needed treatment. So we don't see the oncologist again until April and won't have scans again until July or August.
August 31, 2002 - Andy is five years old today. He had a bone scan, an MRI of the brain, an abdominal ultrasound and a chest x-ray on the 23rd . He saw his oncologist at the clinic and they took a blood and urine sample. Everything checked out fine. He is a healthy boy.
Jan. 5th 2004- Andy is scheduled for what we hope will be his
last scans tomorrow. He will get an MRI of the head, a chest
CT, a bone scan and an abdominal ultrasound. He seems
absolutely fine and I'm sure everything will be clear but I do
have some pre-scan jitters. Any and all prayers are welcome.