Monday will be another big day. Â Jude has a spinal tap scheduled for bright and early in the morning to ensure the cancer cells didn’t spread to his spine. Â I would be surprised if they spread, but it will be a relief nonetheless. Â He will be sedated for it. Â While he is sedated, I requested that they will remove his sutures. Â That will be great since he is sewn up like a football and would be totally traumatized if they removed the sutures while he was awake. Â After the spinal tap, Andy and I will meet with Jude’s oncologist. Â I gave asked her a number of questions and requested a number of things. Â We expect to get some information that will be very critical in deciding whether to pursue proton radiation treatment, which we’ve been told is the “standard of care” in this situation. Â However, I suspect that there is really no standard of care in this situation since this situation very well could be a matter of first impression giving the rarity of supratentorial cortical ependymomas and the fact that it is a Grade II rather than Grade III and was fully resected once again. Â I bet there is still a really good chance that the resection alone is a cure, as it statistically should have been the first time. Â But, do I want to gamble with Jude’s life? Â But, really either decision — to radiate or not to radiate — is a gamble. Â Brutal.