Answers

So we have the answers. Dad has what is called a glioblastoma multiforme. This is one of the most common and most malignant brain tumors. They don't have stages of brain cancer, but they do have grades. The scale is 1-4 with 4 being the worst. Dad's is a 4.

We got to the radiation oncologist at 2:45 and we talked to the nurse for a long time. She told us that they usually wait until 3 weeks after the biopsy to start any sort of treatment on the patient.

When the doctor came in and spoke with us, she told us that we needed to start treatment this week. They had to do a CAT scan to do the mapping and planning for the radiation therapy and they had to make a mask of Dad's head so that when he is getting the treatment they can get the laser to focus on the correct spots on his head. Then they scheduled us for the first radiation treatment on Thursday. We will have radiation therapy 5 days a week for 6 weeks.

When we went to the oncologist right after we were done with that and he said that in addition to the radiation therapy, Dad will also undergo chemotherapy, but it will be in the form of a pill. He will take the pill 7 days a week. He said that for the most part, the effects of the radiation won't start to show until around week 4 and then he will get really tired. He said that generally the chemo pills will make the patients very nauseous, but he prescribed a couple of medications to help prevent that.

The median life expectancy for this type of tumor with treatment is 11 months to a year and a half. We will get through one day at a time and enjoy each day that we have with Dad.

Again, we appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers!

The next step...

Monday, Dad has an appointment with the neurosurgeon to remove his stitches and that afternoon, we have an appointment with the oncologist, where we they will hopefully tell us what the plan of action will be for the treatment plan.

Dad says he is feeling ok, he is just very, very anxious about everything and is having a hard time resting because of his nerves.

He did call me yesterday morning and asked me to come get his car keys. Tuesday at 12:30 in the morning, he decided that he was going to go up to the grocery store to get some food. He got up there fine, said he loaded up on junk food, which he normally doesn't eat, and left the store.
He said that he was so focused on trying not to have one of his spells where he gets light headed that for some reason, he turned the wrong way when he was leaving the grocery store. He said it was really foggy and since he doesn't drive much at night, he was really confused. He said he kind of drove around for a while until he figured out where he was, stopped and put some air in his tire, and figured out which way he needed to go to get back home. He made it back home safe and sound, but it scared him enough that he said he doesn't want to take the chance again.

I am glad that he is able to recognize that he doesn't need to be driving and was really glad that he called and let me know what had happened. How lucky he was to make it back home and not hurt himself, someone else, or have gotten lost.

Today, Darrell went and got Dad at lunch time and took him to the store to pick some things up, so I think he was glad to have gotten out of the house for a while. We have been going to seem him everyday and spend some time with him. Reagan and Dad are really enjoying spending time with each other. I will pick Reagan up from school in the afternoon and he yells for his Papa all the way home.

I appreciate everyone that has sent their thoughts and prayers for us. This is just the beginning of a long journey.

Biopsy Completed

Wow was this an ordeal! The neurosurgeon called me around 7 on Thursday evening and told me to take him to the emergency room on Thursday and they would get him checked in the surgery would be sometime Friday. We got over to the ER at 3 pm on Thursday and ended up getting in to a room about 7. Once I got Dad settled in, I headed home.

I got up Friday morning about 7 got showered and dressed and my phone rang at 7:50 and it was the nurse saying that the surgery would be at 8:30, so I headed over to the hospital. I got there about 8:10 and we waited. And waited. About 10:45, the nurse came in. Dad was out walking the halls and she told me that he wasn't on the surgery schedule until 2:45, so she wasn't sure why they had told us 8:30. By this time, Dad got really upset. He was already very anxious to have the procedure done and finding out that we had already been waiting for 2 hours past the time they had told us and that we would have to wait 4 more hours until the actual surgery, he really lost it. I stepped out of the room and the nurse came back in and calmed him down some. He told me to go take a break for a while and get some lunch or take a nap since we were just going to be waiting longer.

I headed over to my Mom's who only lives a couple of blocks from the hospital and managed to get about a 30 minute nap. I was about to get up and go get some lunch when Dad called and said that they had let him take a shower and he was calmed down and I could come back. I picked up some lunch and headed back to the hospital. 2:45 came and went and we waited. And waited some more. Finally, around 4:30, the nurse paged the surgeon to find out what the deal was. He was in the middle of a surgery that went longer than expected and was relaying info from his operating room nurse to our nurse. He did say that once he was finished up with that patient, he would come to the hospital we were at and do Dad's surgery.

In the mean time, Dad had not eaten in almost 24 hours. He was very hungry, anxious, and hadn't smoked a cigarette either. Luckily, the nurse had given him a nicotine patch and was allowing him to eat ice chips. Not much, but enough to get him through.

Finally, at 6:20, they came up to get him to take him to surgery. The surgeon had told us that the procedure would only take an hour. He didn't bother to tell us that they were taking out 6 different samples and each sample they took would require about 30 minutes a piece to be analyzed under the microscope, so it was about 10:20 when the surgeon came out and spoke with us and let us know that he was out of surgery. Since it was so late, they did not keep him in the recovery room and put him straight in ICU so that he could be watched closely through the night. The nurse to patient ratio in ICU is 1:2 and on a regular floor, it is 1:6 and they really wanted to make sure that everything was ok after the surgery. Darrell and I went in and saw him briefly in ICU, but he was still pretty loopy from the anesthesia and he was really tired, so we left the hospital about 10:45.

Darrell had picked Reagan up around 5:30 and took him to Mom's and I had told Mom that if she had not heard from us by about 8 to take him to our house and get him bathed and in bed, so he was fast asleep by the time we got home. I got very little sleep on Friday night, but I got up and met some friends to run on Saturday. With only 2 months until the San Antonio Half Marathon, I really have to get my running in gear. I needed to run about 5 or 6 yesterday, but I haven't run since the week before my surgery and being as tired as I was yesterday, I only managed about 3, but that still felt so good just to be out doing something.

Darrell had to work for a few hours yesterday, so he took Reagan to Mom's on his way to work and I actually met them over there because I went to Mom's to shower and change before heading to the hospital. I got over there yesterday at about 10:30 and stayed with him until around 3:30. He was doing well and was in a pretty good mood. He was still in ICU and was just waiting for them to get him back in a regular room. He said he hadn't really slept much at all the night before because they checked his vitals every hour.

About 3:30, I left and went and got Reagan and headed home. We ended up staying home for the rest of the evening. One of Dad's friends got their shortly after I left and stayed with him until he got put into a room, which was around 7 yesterday.


I actually got 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night, thanks to a friend giving me a sleep aid yesterday. I was so very thankful for that and it could not have come at a better time. I went to bed about 10:30 last night and didn't wake up until 8:30 this morning. It was awesome.

I got over to the hospital about 10:30 this morning and we didn't get Dad out of there until just after 6 today.

Next step is the oncologist. I will call tomorrow and set up the appointment for that later this week. By then, they should have the results of the biopsy and we can discuss a treatment plan.

Dr. Appointment Cancelled

I went into work today and accomplished alot. Got a call from the doctor's office today around noon and said that they were going to have to cancel Dad's appointment this afternoon. One of the doctors patients had been in a cycling accident and they had to do emergency surgery on him. They said that Dad's biopsy will be no later than Friday.

I'm not sure what role the lady played that I talked to, but she was so helpful and so informative. I was really frustrated because we have yet to see this neurosurgeon yet and ? I only talked to him maybe about 5 minutes and that was when he briefly told me what was going on last Monday afternoon. I had several general questions that I had and this lady took the time to talk to me and go through all of my questions, which makes me feel better.

I went and picked up Dad after work today and he came over and hung out at our house for a while and ate a little dinner with us. He said that he has had two episodes where he got really light headed today. I'm hoping tomorrow is better for him.

My Dad

Wow what a week it has been since the last time I posted.

Sunday morning, I woke up, took a shower came down and sat on the couch for a while. I went to go clean my nose out and noticed that I had a missed call on my phone. I had a voicemail from my Dad who had called at 5:30 am. He said that he was not feeling well and was going to take himself to the emergency room. By the time I got the message, it was about 9am. Darrell and I took Reagan over to Mom's and headed over to the hospital.

I had gotten a hold of Dad on his cell phone and he said they had moved him from the ER into a room. He said that several times the prior week, he had spells where he got really dizzy and felt like he was going to faint. Both of the other times that it had happened, he had other factors that he blamed it on. The first time, he was playing golf and it happened when he was on the 16th hole. He said it was really hot and he wasn't sure if he had drank enough water. So, he rode the cart for the last 2 holes and went on home. The next time it happened, he said when he took his glasses off, he noticed they were kind of bent and he thought maybe since they were out of alignment, it was messing with his vision.

Several years ago, he was diagnosed with peripheral artery disease and has had probably about 5 or 6 surgeries on his legs where they have gone in and put stents in his legs to keep the blood flowing. They finally ended up doing a bypass on one of the main arteries in his leg. He has been on blood thinners every since this has happened and the last time he had a surgery was when Reagan was 2 weeks old.

The doctors in the ER and Dad's heart doctor thought that he may be having these dizzy spells due to the fact that arteries in his neck were getting clogged and causing less blood flow to his brain. So, they put him in a room in the heart wing of the hospital for observation. Darrell and I got over there about 9:30 and that was the worst day that I had after the surgery. I could barely keep my eyes open, was in a little pain, and was just exhausted. So, we sat over with Dad until around 1:30 that afternoon and he finally sent us home and said that they wouldn't know anything until they ran some tests and they didn't know when that would be.

Darrell took me to Mom's so I could sleep and he picked up Reagan. I slept for almost 4 hours. When I finally woke up, I was feeling quite a bit better. Mom brought me home and came in and hung out for a while. She hadn't been gone long and Dad called and said that they had done and MRI and found some sort of mass on his brain and he wanted us to come back over so we could hear what the doctor had to say.

We took Reagan back over to Mom's and got back to the hospital about 6:30 Sunday evening. We waited and waited and waited and finally an oncologist came in and just asked Dad some questions. She didn't really have much information, but had told Dad that the neurosurgeon would come and talk to him and they would do a biopsy and then decide what sort of treatment route to take from there. We kept waiting and Dad finally sent us home about 9:30 pm.

We got up the next morning, took Reagan back to Mom's, and headed back to the hospital. WE got over around 9 and sat there and waited for the doctor to show up. An internal medicine doctor finally came to the room and talked to us for a while and again, he told us that they wouldn't really know what the mass was until they did the biopsy. He also told us that since Dad was on blood thinners, he would have to wait at least 5-7 days for the biopsy so that he could get the blood thinners out of his system. By this time, Dad really wanted to get out of there. He was worried about getting his affairs in order before they started cutting around on his brain. He talked to the doctor about his affairs and the doctor understood his concerns and said that once we spoke with the neurosurgeon, he would be fine with discharging him from the hospital.

We waited around until about 1 and then called the internal medicine doctor back and he had the neurosurgeon call us so that he could get us out of the hospital. I spoke with the neurosurgeon and he told me that Dad has a malignant brain tumor right at the base of the brain. I asked how he could tell because the oncologist and the internal medicine doctor said they wouldn't be able to tell until they did the biopsy. He said that cancerous tumors show up a different color on MRI's than non-cancerous tumors do and that his is pretty bad. He told me twice that if he chooses to not have any treatment that the most he would make it is 2 months.

So, armed with that news, we were let out of the hospital about 2 pm on Monday. Dad asked me if I knew of a lawyer that could help him put together a will quickly, so I had made a call to my friend Rachel who gave me a recommendation for a lawyer. I called her on Monday and within 10 minutes, she called me back. I let her know what was going on and she said that she'd help us out, so we scheduled an appointment with her for Tuesday afternoon.

I had already scheduled out of the office on Tuesday for my surgery, so that worked out well. Reagan had been coughing for about a week and over the weekend, it had gotten worse. He had two nights that he was up most of the night because of his coughing. The Thursday before my surgery, I had gotten a letter from Reagan's daycare that there had been a confirmed case of pertussis (whooping cough) in the daycare. Darrell and I agreed that with the way things were going for us, we needed to go ahead and take him in to the doctor to have him checked. I called early Tuesday morning and managed to get him an appointment at 8:50am, so we took him on in. They did swab him for the whooping cough, but since they have to send it to the state health lab, the results will take 5-7 days to come back. The doctor said that his throat was really red and he had alot of drainage, but his lungs sounded clear. She also told us that since he had possibly been exposed to whooping cough, we could not take him back to daycare for 5 days. Glad again that I had scheduled out Tuesday for my surgery and Wednesday too in the event that I needed it because I needed it!

Tuesday afternoon, Mom kept Reagan while I took Dad to see the lawyer and we went over the paperwork that he needed to get completed to have all of his affairs in order and we set up an appointment to go get all of the paperwork signed and notarized on Friday.

The doctor had told Dad that he should not drive because with the tumor, there is a risk that he may have a seizure at any time. Dad said that he felt fine and as long as he felt fine he was going to drive. He is so stubborn and no one can tell him to do anything, so I knew there was no need arguing with him about it. Tuesday morning, he drove up to get his prescriptions and felt fine, so around lunch, he went to go pick something up and when he was leaving the drive through, he had one of his dizzy spells. He was stopped when he had it and waited a few minutes for it to pass and then went on home. He did tell me when I picked him up that afternoon that he was done driving, He said it was one thing to do something to himself, but he didn't want to take the chance and hurt someone else, so I was glad he came to that realization.

Wednesday morning, Reagan and I got up and took Dad to the grocery store and the bank and we spent most of the morning over at his house. Once I saw that he and Reagan were both exhausted and neither of them were going to take a nap as long as the other was around to play with, I headed home. We didn't even get a block from Dad's and Reagan was asleep.

Darrell had taken off Thursday and Friday, so I went in to work on Thursday. It was good to have something else to focus on for a day instead of just sitting and worrying about everything that's going on. Darrell and Reagan went over to Dad's around lunch and took him out to eat and spent most of the afternoon over there, so that made Dad really happy.

Friday, I had my post-op appointment with my Ear Nose Throat Specialist. He said my nose was looking good, but I was still stopped up and my throat was red, which told him that I had come into contact with something else, probably what Reagan had. So, he put me on different antibiotics and sent me on my way. I have to go back to see him in 3-4 weeks. After that, Dad and I went to meet the lawyer and my friends who graciously came and signed the paperwork as witnesses. After we did that Dad felt much more relieved about the whole situation.

Darrell, Reagan, and I have been spending lots of time with Dad for the past week and doing whatever we need to help him through this. Dad called me at 8 this morning and told me not to worry about anything today and to try and get some rest. He wanted to talk to Darrell, so Darrell went over there and talked to him for a while and then Dad had some friends that came by this afternoon to hang out with him.

After Dad told me to take the day off, Reagan and I headed down to Zilker Park and played for about an hour and then rode the train. We needed some time together and to be outside playing. It was good for both of us. The rest of the day has been spent lounging around, watching football, doing laundry, and cleaning house.

Tomorrow, we have an appointment with the neurosurgeon in his office, which they told us that we had to do before we are able to have the surgery for insurance purposes. The appointment is not until 3:30, so I'm going to go ahead and go into work until around 1:30 or 2. The schedule at the doctors office told me that he already has 8 surgeries scheduled for this next week, so they are going to have to slip Dad in somehow. She said the surgeon may send us straight to the hospital on Monday or it may be as late as Friday that we go in. I really hope it is sooner than later. I know how hard it has been on me to wait, and I can only imagine how hard it is for Dad. Darrell talked to Dad for a long time the other day and really put him at ease with the situation, so I am hoping that he can keep this positive attitude.

We need lots of good thoughts and prayers sent our way. This is going to be a rough journey, but I know we can get through this!

Made It

Everything went well yesterday. The got me back in pre-op around 11:45. Had a hard time finding a vein for my IV since I was dehydrated from not drinking since 11 pm the night before. They finally got it in. Went back into surgery around 2pm. The surgery took about 20 minutes and I was in recovery about 45 minutes. I was feeling like I was going to throw up, so I told the nurse I felt fine and wanted to go home because I didn't want to stay at the hospital any longer. The nurse and Darrell got me into the car and as soon as the nurse turned her back, I barfed alot. Good thing I got out of there when I did! The car ride home was pretty long. Friday afternoon rush hour and holiday weekend make for some pretty crappy traffic. I told Darrell that I wanted to go to my Mom's, so he took me over there when we got out of the hospital. I had tried to keep my eyes closed on the ride home because the stop and go of the traffic was making me really dizzy. Once we got to Mom's, Darrell helped me out of the car since I could barely walk. I threw up alot before I walked upstairs to Mom's place and even more once I got inside and sat down. I was glad that Darrell had thought to grab a few barf bags for our ride home. Darrell got me in to Mom's and got me cleaned up from the barf and he took off to go get Reagan from daycare and pick up my meds. I decided that it would be best for me to stay at Mom's place for the evening so I could get some good sleep and not worry about Reagan hitting me in the face. I layed down and slept for about an hour and felt a little better once I woke up. Mom made me a little bit of plain pasta and some avocado and then I was feeling much better after having something in my stomach.

Darrell went and picked up all my meds, picked up Reagan and stopped at the house to get me some clothes and came back over to Mom's just as I was finishing up my food. I got to hug my sweet little boy and that made me happy. They hung out for a while and headed back home. I had to clean my nose out twice with this little bottle that you fill with warm saline solution. That was pretty gross seeing the stuff that came out of there! Around 10:30, I took a Vikadin and headed to bed. I slept until almost 9 this morning, which felt really good. I got up, cleaned my nose out again (it wasn't too bad at all this morning.) and took a shower. I decided that I was ready to come home, so Mom brought me home. I'm not feeling too bad right now. My face is starting to get a little swollen, but the doctor said that will be pretty normal. I'm just a little sore and still very tired. I'm getting ready to take a nap so I can be ready to watch the Texas football game in about an hour.

Hoping that everything else goes as smoothly as it has so far!!

Tomorrow is the day

Totally did not get to run like I wanted this week. In fact, didn't run at all. I was so busy getting things tied up at work that I wasn't able to squeeze a run in. Oh well, I'll make it. I should hopefully be able to go for a short run next weekend. Fingers crossed!

I have surgery tomorrow around 1 in the afternoon. Here's hoping that everything goes well!!