Friday, May 2

1 pm. I call Dr. Finlay to confirm he received the CD of Lauren's MRI (which he hadn't) and confirm he still recommends starting the Head Start III protocol in light of the new information. I also let him know what Dr. Shen's concerns were. He informs me he will call her.

4:30 pm They begin chemo. Lauren is administered two types of chemo via IV and one orally. As the nurse begins hooking up the IV, I receive a call from Dr. Finlay. We finally received some positive news, but it just adds to the confusion and frustration. He tells me that he does not believe the tumor has grown much since the original MRI taken on April 8th, but he is concerned with the amount fluid located around the shunt. He thinks the shunt might be leaking and that we need to take care of that before they start chemo. I tell him, they just started chemo, and he said, oh well, just talk to your neurosurgeon. I frantically contact our neurosurgeon oncology liaison, and tell her Dr. Finlay's concerns. She contacts Dr. Loudon (our neurosurgeon) who tells her he looked at the MRI and that Dr. Finlay is WRONG. Apparently Dr. Loudon and Dr. Finlay had a heated conversation as did Dr. Shen and Dr. Finlay the day before. Dr. Loudon, who is on the way to the airport makes a U-turn to come back and show me what he found on the MRI. He explains why its not the shunt, and he goes over the MRI in detail to show me why. He also tells me he is sorry that we are caught in the middle of everything. He says usually it’s the parents that don't agree on the treatment, or don't want to listen to what the doctors say, but this is the first time he has ever been in a situation where the doctors are not close to being on the same page. He says he pretty much flabbergasted by what Dr. Finlay is saying and that he is just making up conclusions that can't exist. Dr. Loudon also doesn't know what to say since he referred us to Dr. Finlay. At this point I sure hope that Dr. Finlay is as good as everyone says he is.