A couple days ago we met with Olivia's genetic specialist, Dr. David Viskochil. He is a wonderful doctor! He pulled up Olivia's March 2011 MR images so we could look at the new glioma growing near the cerebral aqueduct, and then we compared these images with past MRI's.
The following brain MR image is NOT Olivia's.
I found it online to help explain where her new glioma is located (I lost the website where I found it or there would be a link).
The cerebral aqueduct is the dark triangle-ish shape in the lower half of the picture:
Above the cerebral aqueduct there is a lighter gray area and the bottom part looks like a, well, a bottom :) It looks like a bum, okay? I can't think of any other way of describing it - Sorry! Anywho, the new glioma is on the left bum cheek. The MRI report says the glioma is 9.5 mm wide and it is causing a mild displacement of the aqueduct. Basically, the left bum cheek is bigger/bulging more than the right.
There is still good flow through the cerebral aqueduct. There is no evidence of obstruction, though Olivia does have a greater risk of future aqueductal compression and hydrocephalus. In 2 months Olivia will do another MRI to see if the glioma has grown.
The part of the appointment that I found to be the most helpful is when the doctor explained the nature of NF1 gliomas. He said they usually have a burst of growth and then stop growing. Sometimes they may have future bursts of growth, but usually they are done growing after their initial burst of growth. Hopefully, this will be the case with Olivia's new glioma.
The only other concern the doctor had after examining Olivia is about her speech. He thought her voice sounded gravelly and monotone and wants her to get a speech assessment. She will possibly need speech therapy. This wasn't a surprise as we've noticed she is sometimes difficult to understand and she has to work harder to pronounce words correctly, well, as correct as our Utahn accents can be :)
