Another Hospital Trip

Makenzie had her 6th treatment on Wednesday. She was not feeling well and on the way home she threw up. Then she threw up again at home. Then we found that she was having trouble swallowing water. She would gag herself and choke each time she swallowed. So we called the doctor and he sent us back to the ER and they admitted her to the hospital. They checked her shunt and it was working fine. They also did a detailed MRI to check for a cause of her nausea, headache, vomiting, and difficulty swallowing. They were concerned the tumor may have grown. The MRI showed nothing bad that we didn't already know about. Her ventricles were the same size, the tumor has not grown and is 2 inches from the part of the brain stem that controls nausea and vomiting. They did see some swelling around the tumor which hopefully is a sign the chemo is killing some tumor cells. Cells swell as they are damaged and die. The swelling can cause some of the symptoms she has been experiencing. But they were not able to say for sure what is causing her complications. She still is not feeling well but she is swallowing better. She spent two days in the hospital and came home Friday night. We think the combination of the tumor, the chemo, and the stress of the whole situation is just getting to her. Keep praying for her. Thank you to all who have helped us and continue to help us.