A Sense of Foreboding

I subscribe to an online discussion group for parents of children with Low Grade Gliomas. The daily digest can be quite a tough read - there are parents there that are going through a really tough time and are using the group to sound off, or gather opinion about where to go next. Their children are often having all sorts of complications, and having to cope with all sorts of difficult treatments, such as Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy.

And of course, reading the digest, I can't help but have a sense of foreboding about what happens next for Tara. And although I believe that can be counter productive, it's also the reality of our situation. Burying my head in the sand isn't going to help make Tara's condition go away. Through the digest I have discovered treatments such as 'Gamma Knife', a type of surgery that uses focused radiation to attack a tumour, meaning that a craniotomy is not necessary. Space age stuff - anything that avoids opening the head is a positive in my opinion, and so I have already been in touch with Andras Kemeny, Lead Consultant at the National Centre For Stereotactic Radiosurgery in Sheffield (one of the European centres of excellence for Gamma Knife surgery), to discuss Tara's case. Hence, I might have made that option available to Tara should she need it.

So although I might find it hard to read the Low Grade Glioma digest, if I didn't I wouldn't know that treatments such as Gamma Knife were available. We will find out a little more about what lies ahead after Tara's next scan on December 4th. Until then, I will keep reading, so that I am prepared and can discuss options should they be required.