We are home. I've cried off and on all day while going through the motions, my worst fear has been confirmed. Baxter went to the neurosurgeon/neurologist this morning. The neurologist did not feel that Baxter ever had a stroke, he strongly felt we were dealing with a brain lesion. After an extensive neurological exam, which Baxter didn't do extremely well on, he recommended an MRI. We went directly from his office to the MRI center in Vienna. WONDERFUL facility!!! It is more expensive to be referred through the neurologist's office because you take an "emergency/same day" slot and the films are sent via computer in real time to your neurologist. Just like anything else, you pay for convenience. I spoke with the anesthesiologist at great length there and they helped calm my fears regarding Baxter undergoing anesthia. Baxter pulled through like a champ though it took him longer than "normal" to wake up. The bad news came when we got home. The neurologist called us when I got home and confirmed that Baxter has a meningeal tumor in his left cerebellum that is a good size, about 2/3rds of half of the doctors fist. He talked with me about a few options and then gave his opinion on how he recommends we proceed. The first option was surgery. He told me that it would be near impossible to get all of the tumor and there is also a substantial amount of short term side effects with the surgery. At his age, he did not recommend surgery. Second option was radiation. This would consist of 17 treatments all within a 3 week period. Each treatment must be done under general anesthia and for this reason, he did not recommend radiation therapy. The third alternative is to take prednisone and an oral chemotherapy medication, this is the protocol that he recommends. However, they found a lump on Baxter's larnyx also. We are waiting on the radiologist's read on that which we will have by lunch time tomorrow. If that lump turns out to be a tumor, we are looking at a cancer that has metastasized. If this is the case, there isn't much hope. I'm very hopeful that the lump is a cyst and unrelated to Baxter's brain tumor. Please hope for better news from the radiologist tomorrow. The only thing I can do now is pray for Baxter and cherish everyday we have left together.
