4/12/2021

Hey friends! Today was Josiah's appointment at the Duke Cancer Center for a second opinion. We met with several nurses and then Dr. Desjardins. Dr. Desjardins said that Josiah's brain looks "BEAUTIFUL" after all he has been through. She said the cancer is visibly diminishing!!!!! She spent so much time with us showing us the comparisons between past scans with his most recent scan. It really does look so much better, and I will add them to the post! There are no clinical trials he is able to be a part of right now, and Dr. Desjardins said that was because he is doing so well and the trials are usually for those with a recurrence or those not taking well to treatment. But since Josiah's brain has taken so well to treatment, he is good right now! Dr. Desjardins said that the "scare" we had a month ago with the radiologist report saying "progression of disease" was because a radiologist looks at the scans and usually writes worst case scenario of what it looks like. This is because they obviously want to avoid being sued. However, knowing that he has been through radiation and chemo, the spot that looked like potential progression to the radiologist, is actually radiation change that she described as scarring which is a little brain tissue being scarred from the effects of radiation. She said it's not bad, and it is normal. So praise God that it is not progression! The doctor was just so pleased with his scans and how well he has responded to treatment. Current plan is to stay on the Optune head gear and stay healthy in general!

Here are the descriptions of the pictures I'm posting:

Scan from November of 2020: You can see the black area by the circled section which is where they took at the bulk of the tumor. The thickness you can see of whats circled is the "roots" of his tumor and cancer cells that are accumulated in the area. The thickness means there is some infiltrative cancer cells.

Scan from April 2021:

This is his most recent MRI. It's more translucent where it is circled. This means more cancer cells have died off and it's beginning to look more like the healthy brain tissue!

Praise God he is doing so well and that the new doctor at Duke is so hopeful with his case. Thank you everyone for your prayers and love!!!