Seeing how everybody except Mike and I was still a bit under the weather, it was only Mike, Aidan, & I that actually made the very quick trip from RMH to Children’s Hospital to see Dr. Geyer. 

Due to Aidan having symptoms of a cold, he was required to wear a mask and not allowed to wait in the general waiting area with all the other patients.  Upon our arrival we were immediately put into isolation in one of the exam rooms.  The nurses hung a sign on the door, and everyone who entered had to be in a gown, mask, and gloves.  It was not really a problem for the three of us, except we were in quite a small room and we actually had a half an hour to wait before the scheduled appointment time.

Aidan was taken down the hall to be weighed and have his height checked.  It appeared the weight loss had ended because Aidan managed to gain a full pound, and according to the nurse had actually grew a half an inch from his prior appointment two weeks earlier.  We were encouraged by the weight gain, but we are taking the half inch height gain with a grain of salt.  We will see what his height is on his next appointment in two weeks.

Dr. Geyer arrived masked, gloved, and in a gown.  He took one look at Aidan and said “he appears to be doing very well”.  Well considering Aidan was struggling a bit with his cold, we couldn’t have agreed more. 

Dr. Geyer is a very busy man, but knowing Mike and I had some further questions relative to his June 27^th MRI, he graciously took the time to answer all our questions.  He went to the PC and brought up MRI images from Aidan’s baseline MRI on May 9^th and put them side by side with the latest MRI on June 27^th.  When he started viewing them together it was almost like he was rediscovering them and was pretty impressed with the results.  He said the response to radiation was “good” and was one of the “best he has seen”.   He confirmed for us that some of what remains is still due to radiation swelling, and some of it is Aidan’s brainstem and therefore will remain even when the tumor is gone.  He was also quick to say that some of what remains is still tumor, but we took this comment with a bit of skepticism because we know that other then water, no one can tell how much it what from looking at an MRI scan.  We took this comment as the standard doctor caveat which he needs to tell us for professional and legal reasons.  Bottom line, he liked what he seeing on the scans and seemed encouraged and upbeat by Aidan’s response.

Dr. Geyer then completed his actual exam of Aidan and did not find anything that caused him any concerns.  I was of the opinion Aidan was ever so slightly more symptomatic, but Mike was quick to remind me that he is still fighting off his cold.  Well, who am I to argue with this fatherly insight, and considering Aidan is never more then a few feet from his Dad, Mike is most probably spot on with his analysis.

Chet "Papa" Hammack