Good results!

We were happy to hear today that the MRI came back fine. The doctor had been specifically looking for bone metastases (cancer that has spread to the bones) that were pressing on the cluster of nerves at the base of the skull. The concern being that this could affect Joshua's vision or speech. This all came about during a conversation at our last appointment when Joshua mentioned to her that the left half of his lower lip tends to go numb. We both figured she would look at us like we were hypochondriacs (a minor side effect of living with cancer for nine years, at least for the caregiver), but in fact, she said right away, "Oh yes, that is common with prostate cancer." Ooookaaayyy...

A bit of background information in that Joshua's cancer has spread extensively to the bone. When he had an x-ray in 2004, he basically lit up like a airport runway at night. We've been very fortunate that the pain from this has been relatively limited. It's only been in the past year or so that he started to feel pain and is now on constant painkillers to manage it.

So, given that the skull is bone, we know he has disease in his skull (insert bad jokes about his diseased brain here). How does this create the feeling of permanently being shot up with novacaine? Apparently, there are nerves on either side of the chin and if a cancerous bit on the bone pushes or rubs against the nerve, numbness can ensue. Since it isn't affecting his speech or eating, we won't worry about it. What the doctor was more concerned about, and what she ordered the MRI to check out, was whether similar metastases were pushing against the bundle of nerves that are located at the base of the skull and wrap around either side of the head. The good news is, if this turned out to be the case, they could do radiation to his head to alleviate the cancer in that spot. The better news is that this is a mute point since the MRI showed none of this.