Good News- MRI

Hi everybody. I'm sorry it has been a while since our last posting. Things have been busy around here as usual. I was waiting to post until I had some good updates on Lena's medical progress. We finally have good news! Yeah!

Last week Lena went in for her MRI follow-up. It hasn't been quite three months since her surgery although it seems like it happened years ago. The past three months have been filled with exhaustion, anxiety, stress but most importantly, love. We have so much love in our family. Don't get me wrong, there are still many days when I hear these words, "You are the meanest Mommy in the world!" :) I'd hate to give the impression that things are always rosy around the Poulsen household. But there seems to be a shift too. It might just be in my eyes but I do feel that I appreciate my daughters more and that my heart has grown to allow all of that love in. Kira, Lena and Naia have also grown in their ability to empathize with not only one another but with all others. It is common now that when we see someone out and about with a disability, the girls are more likely to comment on how we don't talk about how people look or make fun of people that are different from us. They are still 6 years old of course but they "get it" now in a way that they didn't before. It seems as if the students in Lena's class are more understanding as well so it's all good.

Oh... the good news... I better get this out before I start randomly writing about what we've been up to, our upcoming Halloween costumes, etc.

So last week Lena had an MRI at MD Anderson. It was quite a frustrating day. We were there around 6:45 in the morning and didn't get out until around 2:00 in the afternoon. We were scheduled to go see her neurologist Friday morning but they had called a few weeks ago to reschedule. So it wasn't until this past Wednesday that we got the results.
***Her MRI was clear. What does this mean? It means that the portion of the tumor that was left following the surgery is not showing any signs of regrowing at this time. We will return in 6 months for another MRI and then continue to check on the tumor, probably for the rest of her life although she might be able to extend the periods in between the checks to one year intervals.

After months of feeling that we were in a neverending tornado, I think we can finally take a reprieve and take a deep breath. We know we are not out of the woods but we sense that we can focus on our family, the holidays and our friends without thinking every minute about our next appointment, check up or results. Lena is struggling with wearing her glasses and hates to have her "good eye" patched but these are things we are working through. Right now she is happy and doing well in school. We are good.

Lena has had to learn a lot and go through a lot in the past 3 months. When we left the doctor's office on Wednesday, we were holding hands and walking to the elevator. Lena was excited because she knew we'd ride the escalator on the way out of MD Anderson! I asked her if she knew how happy Mommy was that the tumor was not growing back right now. She smiled and then turned to ask me if there were other tumors growing in her brain. Just not the question I was expecting. I told her there were not any other tumors and that she didn't have to come back to the doctor for a while. She smiled again and then asked me about the escalator ride and if we could go up and down two times. :) Of course we did. We had a nice ride down, up, down and up again!

So, I'll restrain from going on and on about all else happening but wanted to let you know that I'll check in to write every once in a while and let you all know how Lena, Kira and Naia are doing. If you ever want to reach us, you can always email at holland_poulsen@hotmail.com. We'd love to hear from you. We love all of our friends and family very much. We hope that you enjoy the cool weather and the time spent with your family. Hugs & kisses- Holland