Talking to the Doctor

This afternoon Justin, Jason and I went to the Radiology Oncologist. He was the one doctor we hadn't seen yet, so we had no idea what to expect. His nurse spoke with us first, then the student doctor, then all three of them. He was great. But the news wasn't so good. He said that the vascular malformation (the vein and vessel cluster) was actually the least of our worries. That was put on the back burner. He showed us the images from the brain scan. It was very clear that the thyroid was too big. Then as he went through the images one by one, we saw the tumor. I thought it would look like a walnut or golf ball with a definite shape and an outline. But what it looked like was a splash of milk on a regular brain. I was shocked that it looked like that, just part of the brain, not it's own identity. The doctor called it a low-grade glioma, which we had heard from some of the other doctors. They don't know yet what we are dealing with between the thyroid and the glioma. Did one cause the other to change, or are they two separate things that have nothing to do with each other? And is the glioma a low-grade, or is it changing? Once the results are in, there will be some meetings between the Oncologist and the Chief neurosurgeon to decide what to do. We are wiped out. This is a roller coaster ride no one wants to ride. I have to keep reminding myself that God knows and cares, and has a plan.