I don't have a scientific mind. Radiation is extremely technical and precise and I just have to try and grasp what I can and try to ask lots of questions even if they seem "obvious". This time around, the radiation will tackle the right hip and pelvis. According to her MRI there is "Patchy involvement of the lumbosacral spine with extensive metastatic deposits and involvement of the posterior elements, as well as the medical portions of the iliac bone and sacrum.
The doc outlined for us the two areas that are important :the possibility of hip fracture and some "encroachment upon the right S2 neuroforamen ". I did'nt quite understand what this means but I can try to explain ......
The sacral spine has 5 (fused) vertebrae (S1-S5) and the sacrum is the triangular bone at the base of the spine formed by these five vertebrae wedged between the two hip bones.
Spinal nerve roots shoot off from the spinal cord and exit the spinal canal through the neuroforamen. These spinal nerve roots branch out to form an intricate network of nerves outside of the spinal canal called the peripheral nervous system. When the size of a neuroforamen is reduced, there is less room for the spinal nerve, which may cause nerve compression. Symptoms of nerve compression include pain, stiffness, numbness, tingling sensations, and/or weakness. Dr Killian explained that if this was left untreated, my mum may have problems with her bladder or bowels and it was important to try to treat this area aggressively .
I will probably try to edit this post as I become more familiar with this stuff but for now, it's the best explanation I can come up with ..... In simple terms , she's got pain in her hip and pelvis and it needs to be fixed .Precise and extremely carefully planned radiation will hopefully try to resolve the issues - they may not be able to "cure" but they can hopefully stop this in its tracks .
These medical professionals here do some incredible , technical work that just blows me away . They smile at the patients, the appointments run on time and you have every opportunity to talk and ask questions . This is a very special place. Dr Prasad is a very friendly guy and the other two Docs- Dr Mclaughlin and Dr Salerno make you feel like they have all the time in the world for you ! Joyce Martin is a radiation tech that has been at Roswell since 1975 - that must say something about the team . We are greeted by name, the techs say hello to us in the cafeteria if they are picking up their lunch too and a "goodbye" at the end of the day . This is simple , human dignity and I cannot adequately express how much that means to my mum . She's treated as Celia, a person, not a "patient" or a "case " . Mum , with her typical under-statement ,said she felt "lonelyish" when she was getting tattooed for the procedures and lying on a hard X-ray table , but she felt secure in knowing that the the people in the room were both kind and considerate. It took the edge off her anxiety and we even managed to take a drive out to East Aurora for dinner and a wander along it's prety Main street . It was a good break from the Doubletree.
