Homeward Bound?

At the moment, it looks like we may be able to go home late tonight.  This would make Zoë really happy.  She has been asking when she could go home all day.  We sat down with the Oncologist and discussed the possible treatments for Zoë.  A piece of good news is that Zoë may not have to have a biopsy done.  The doctors believe that this still could be a low grade optic pathway glioma.  They are sending out Zoë’s scans to get opinions from different doctors across the country.  At Zoë’s age, the treatments for this type of brain tumor are limited.  Complete removal of the tumor is not really even an option.  Trying to remove the tumor, due to its location, would most likely cause blindness and could even make things worse.  Radiation would be a better choice for Zoë, if she was not so young.  The collateral damage caused by the radiation, could cause other long term issues for her.  The doctors believe that chemotherapy would be the most effective treatment with the least amount of permanent damage.  If Zoë starts chemotherapy, it will be a process that lasts approximately a year.  They will also need to put in a more permanent IV in her chest for the duration of the chemotherapy.   After she has completed chemotherapy, they will then do another MRI to see if the size of the glioma has changed.  Low grade gliomas usually respond to chemotherapy about 60% of the time.   If her glioma does not respond then they will look more closely at the option of radiation and possible surgery to remove part of it.    

Zoë’s tumor is not likely to ever “go away” completely.   The doctors are hoping to stop the growth and reduce the size.  She has been told she has something in her brain that is not supposed to be there and we are going to do all we can to fix it.  .  She is not prohibited from doing anything.  She can still do everything she has always done.  Zoë is still that same spunky little five year old we all have fallen in love with.  She has not changed in the slightest.