Claire completed her radiation therapy on March 10th. Overall, she tolerated the treatment well. Upon completing the last dose of cranio/spinal radiation (this was administered over the last 3 weeks), she received a deserved helping of warm wishes from the UCD staff. She touched many lives in her brief care at UCD. She returned home that day with visible fatigue and overall not feeling well. As the day progressed she never showed signs of her typical recovery. Early in the evening she began to vomit. After 1/2 hour we called the doctor to begin preperation for a hospital admitance. Soon after Claire became unresponsive so we called 911. She was taken to Sutter and suffered several seizures in route. She was stabilized with medication and we were admitted to the PICU. Shannon and I were obviously very concerned and couldnt believe this was happening on the day she completed her radiation treatment. She remained in a unresponsive state with visible weakness to the left side of her body. She underwent a CT scan to rule out bleeding in the brain and we received good news shortly after. The CT showed no signs of bleeding. We would not be able to have an MRI scan until later Tuesday morning. The MRI would determine if her symptoms were related to tumor growth or possible radiation side effects. We settled into the ICU for an anxious and concerning wait. At 4 am we experienced another sign of hope. Our nurse came in to check vitals and Claire's bed sheets had become wet from a full diaper. She asked if she could change the bedding since Shannnon and I were both awake at the time. We agreed and assisted the nurse by picking Claire up from the bed. In typical Claire form she let out a cry and stated something like "NO, DONT DO THAT". Music to our ears. The mornig came and our specialists began to check in and we heard positive opinions from all. The MRI would be the determining factor and it was scheduled for 12 noon. Claire had improved enough to be moved to the main floor. The MRI preliminary result were relayed to us around 3:45 pm and brought us needed comfort. It appeared that the episode was not related to tumor, rather from irritation and swelling in the brain caused by radiation. They would treat Claire with medication to assist in reducing the edema. Her nausia was also attributed to the radiation treatment. Many times the effects of cranio/spinal raditation therapy intensify after treatment ends. I told Shannon that Claire has 9 lives and we are probably down to 3 or 4. It was also discoverd that Claire has an infection in her "pick" line so that was removed today. We will now wait for 48 hours of no fever or bacterial growth in her lood cultures before she will be released from the hospital.
She is improving every hour. The final MRI results were called in last night and were better than we could have wished. The tumor area is contained with visible shrinkage. This news is made more impressive due to the fact that radiation takes time to run its course. It damages the DNA to the tumor and over time (usually 6 weeks) destroys the tumor ability to grow. We will have our next MRI in April to determine the true success status of her treatment.
I try describe the events as best as I can but I know I leave out so much. Regardless, this is Claire's story and what an amazing one it has been.
Thanks for the thoughts, prayers, and love. Each on of you who have followed Claire's fight has made a difference and contributed to her being with us today. I know this to be true.
Thank You.
