dopa results and upcoming excitement

Spoke with Dr. Cloughsey last night regarding the dopa pet scan results. He said that the scan showed an uptake aruond the rim of the cavity, which is inline with what we continually see on the MRI scans. He said uptake can be seen in tumor cells, necrotic tissue and sometimes inflamed areas as well. The uptake is caused by the amount of dopamine being used by certain areas of the brain. From reading the scan, Dr. Cloughsey said that there are aspects of what he sees that are unusual and makes him think it is not tumor cells and does not think that our current treatment should be changed based on this scan. The good news is that the extra swelling we noticed in the MRI and were worried about did not show dopa positive, so that hopefully eliminates the possibility of non-enhancing tumor in that area! There is a possibility that the ring around the cavity could be tumor cells, but they don't appear to be dividing or actively growing. He also mentioned that he has patients that have lived for years with this type of tumor cell that never changes.

Mark's radio interview aired early Sunday morning on K-RTH 101. It was a very inspiring piece and Mark really showed his determination and faith to beat this thing! A star is born! If we end up getting a digital sound bite, I'll send it out.

Well, the LIVESTRONG ride is this coming Sunday! Mark's two sisters are traveling down and preparing to ride with him :) The course is a total of 104 miles around Orange County. Brock and I and the rest of the family will be holding up signs and making lots of noise at the cheering stations. Mark did reach his fund raising goal and has now raised over $15,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation!!! His team (Deb, Sharon & Mark) are the 5th highest fund raisers in Southern California!!! As an added bonus, Mark gets an invitation to "Ride for the Roses" with Lance in Austin this October! Way to go!!!