"Holy Cow!!! That's Amazing News"

The thing I am quickly learning is medical innovation is hard to decipher when you are walking the path right down through the middle of something so incredible.

Chris and I are so excited, relieved, impressed... the positive adjective list is long... by the first MRI scan post brain surgery. It is actually hard to process in real time how the best case scenario for Sam's tumor has now become the outcome we are lucky enough to live through. So hard to process in fact that it took several close family and friends celebrating so openly with text expletives for us to start to connect the magnitude of the moment.

MRI Comparison | Left: July & Right: September Post Op

In the photo you can see the July MRI scan on the left. The red portion is approx the size of a golf ball, with the white outside edges being calcification and the interior being fluid. On the right, you will see the results of a well placed dissolvable stint -- the fluid drained and the calcification matter and collapsed upon itself.

Pressure is now off his optic nerves and the remaining tumor has almost entirely fallen away from the hypothalamus - indicating low risk of hypothalamic damage. All of Sam's labs to date (2.5 days post op) have shown his sodium levels in normal ranges indicating no diabetes insipidus outcome. His pituitary function has remained fully intact as well as his cognitive and physical abilities. Wow. Just wow. Again, this was an outcome we had tried to prepare ourselves for NOT happening. What a relief.

I want to make sure I mention the recovery battle Sam braved his way through in post-op. He was just absolutely miserable for about the first 24 hours with several 'after effects' happening to his body that there was just no way we could have been prepared for. Specifically a kinked catheter and arterial line issue became next level hard for him to process happening and endure. But he sure did great and he is getting better every single hour. Exponential improvements have started happening and today (Thursday) was full of wins.

There's so much more to say (but huge shoutout to Dr. Todd Hankinson and his entire team for craniopharyngioma research and innovation. He changed our mindset on this tumor a month ago and then changed our son's outcome this week. Truly incredible work and we are forever in gratitude.