We easily made our 11:30a check-in time. Travis entered the MRI machine around 12:50p, sedated for the long scans. Thankfully my friend Selena joined me while I waited for T during the long scans, it definitely helped pass the time. They brought Travis to recovery around 2:20p and he woke to his Oreos and water. We headed out of the MRI area by 3:30p and headed back to the house.
On the 18th, I spoke with Dr. Viskochil about the MRI results...some answers, some more questions.
Great and good news
- The plexiform we've been following for 5 years does not extend above the area already covered by the pelvic MRIs. :)
- Fuzzy images made it hard to determine if tumor or lymph node in neck near the area of fullness on the right side. Whatever it is, it is NOT compressing the airway!
More questions (see pictures below)
- The spinal cord is not evenly surrounded by spinal fluid. There is an area in the neck where there is very little spinal fluid on one side of the spinal cord, the cord comes very near the vertebrae. Dr. V is emailing another doc to look at the scans when he has time, not an emergency. Dr V has seen this before, but not to this extreme.
- Seeing dural ectasia (vertebrae scalloping) in areas of the spine, most marked in lumbar spine. Dr. V said this occurs in 5-10% of NF patients and he's deferring to ortho for a decision.
None of these would explain the left side weakness, may end up doing a dedicated MRI of the brachial nerve. We will see what the other docs have to say first. Thankfully integrative medicine now has office space in the new Primary's outpatient building. Travis feels better after seeing Alyssa for massage and Shonishin. She suggested some of T's issues may be explained by his compensating for his lower body issues.Great and good news
- The plexiform we've been following for 5 years does not extend above the area already covered by the pelvic MRIs. :)
- Fuzzy images made it hard to determine if tumor or lymph node in neck near the area of fullness on the right side. Whatever it is, it is NOT compressing the airway!
More questions (see pictures below)
- The spinal cord is not evenly surrounded by spinal fluid. There is an area in the neck where there is very little spinal fluid on one side of the spinal cord, the cord comes very near the vertebrae. Dr. V is emailing another doc to look at the scans when he has time, not an emergency. Dr V has seen this before, but not to this extreme.
- Seeing dural ectasia (vertebrae scalloping) in areas of the spine, most marked in lumbar spine. Dr. V said this occurs in 5-10% of NF patients and he's deferring to ortho for a decision.
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| Cervical spine |
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| Lower spine |
Travis enjoyed a great, fun Christmas and Santa brought T what he wanted, the "Planes: Fire and Rescue" movie. :) Everyone enjoyed their Christmas presents and we had a great, fun day filled with laughs. Pictures from Christmas below.
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| Sly (Stevenson Sylvester) from the Buffalo Bills met T at Shriners on the 19th |
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| T singing at CUMC's 5p Christnas Eve service (Barrett is in red/white striped shirt) |
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| One cute Santa |
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| T likes his own Broncos jersey |
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