MRI Results

Dr. Fabregas called me this afternoon with the results from Madilyn's MRI she had yesterday.

Not sure where to start with all this. But it looks like the next few weeks will be difficult for Madilyn, to say the least.

The MRI shows that the mass is definitely inflamed and still active. The radiologists that saw it, of course said the same things they said from seeing X-rays and CT scans - it looks just like what they see when they are looking at a malignant tumor.

The next part gets a little tricky to understand. This is when I wish I had a doctor in the family to talk to about all this to help me understand.

First, he will biopsy it again. If the biopsy comes back negative, then he will remove as much of the mass as possible, insert a stint that contains antibiotics that will stay in place for two weeks, allowing the antibiotics to seep into the bone and kill any infection that is left. She will be in the hospital for at least several days so she can be on IV antibiotics and be monitored closely by him and infectious diseases. At the end of the two weeks, she will have another surgery to remove the stint and clean the area out as much as possible to expose as much good bone as they can.

Now, let's back up a little, because believe me, I was confused as well. When you say, "if the biopsy comes back negative," negative for what?

Malignancy.

But haven't we already ruled that out with the first biopsy? Well, yes, at that time.

In his own words: "Anytime I perform surgery on a mass, I will always biopsy it first just to be certain it is okay to proceed with removing it."

Me: "But is there a chance that this is malignant, because I thought we covered this before that what was already there could not turn into a malignancy."

Him: "Well, yes, the cells themselves cannot turn into that. But you have to remember that the cells we initially took in the first biopsy were just a tiny amount of cells from a rather large mass, and I cannot tell you that the mass did not contain cells that were not malignant, just the cells we took did not. So I cannot tell you that the biopsy will not come back positive for a malignancy. I do not feel that it is malignant, but again, I cannot tell you that it isn't, because there is a very small chance that it could be. We will not know until we get in there. My plan is to biopsy it, and if it comes back negative, proceed with as we have discussed."

I feel confident that it is not a malignancy, but rather some type of infection. I feel that removing it is the best course to take. We have known about the mass for twelve weeks now, and haven't seen any improvement or signs that it is going to try and heal itself, so I would rather it just be removed, so her bone can begin to heal. We knew from the beginning that additional surgeries were a strong possibility.

He wants to do the first surgery on Monday, a week from today, and she should expect to be in the hospital until at least Wednesday.

So, for now, that is all I really know. I'm sure I will think of lots more questions to call him and ask him about between now and Monday. But until then, this is what we know.

Please keep Madilyn in your prayers. She is a strong girl and amazes me how she takes all this with stride. She doesn't get nervous or freak out, and is already thinking about what special treats she wants to get while she is in the hospital.

I'll keep you posted if anything changes.

Thanks in advance for everything.