Hope Renewed

Thursday May 2, 2013

I got a rare early morning phone call today.  Mom called "just to hear my sweet voice".  It was 7:20 am.  Of course I answered the phone thinking something was wrong.

But nothing was wrong.

She was sitting outside, playing frisbee with their dog, watching the sun come up, and thinking...  Just thinking.

She didn't want to miss the moment to tell me how much she loves me.  And she wanted to tell me how proud of me she is for coming as far as I have recently.

The call got emotional at one point, but I tried to divert.  I knew she had an important appointment this morning with a potential Neurosurgeon that would handle her case.  I wanted to keep her spirits up.

She and Dad went to Southfield, MI today to meet with a Neurosurgeon, Dr. Ryan Barrett.

They. Love. Him.

A-typical of Neurosurgeons, he had a great bedisde manner, he was comforting, supportive, positive and patient.  I say a-typical because Neurosurgeons are brainiacs.  Perfectionists. Egotistical. Dry. Unemotional.

Not this guy.

Her surgery is scheduled for Friday May 24th in Novi, MI at Providence Park Hospital.  She will spend 2-3 days there post-op.  They were told there is little pain with this surgery post-op as well.  They will shave her hair just in the spot of the incision.  He will remove a piece of the skull, and remove what he can of the tumor.

They got some answers today FINALLY!

They were told for sure it is cancer.  We still don't know what type of cancer.  This "thing" now has a name...  Something, something, something Blastoma.  You might laugh, but I am getting this information from my dad, who is riding this roller coaster blindly.  I'm sure that the overwhelming amount of information they received was incredible.  The only word he remembered was Blastoma.

The cancer does not appear to have metastasised.  It appears to be primary.  I learned what this means just today.  To be primary means (I think) that this "tumor" is singular.  This is the one source of cancer in her body.  There isn't another "primary" cell or tumor that has grown to this spot.  The surgeon did agree that this tumor has been there for some time.

Before he can tell the stage of cancer, or the type, he has to get into her brain.  He needs to biopsy.  There's obviously only one way to biopsy a tumor in the brain (at least in this case)... and that's the surgery.

Dr. Barrett showed them the crucial parts of the brain that you don't want a tumor (as if you could choose), and where her tumor is is not there.  He explained that it is in a place that is fairly easy to get to.  Although hers is not in the "crucial" part of the brain, it is still inside her brain, not on it.  So the surgery will be tricky.

They feel they can remove "most of it".  Chemo and radiation are a sure thing after the surgery and that can be done by Oncology in Grand Rapids.

They were told that the outlook "looks good".

The deficits after the surgery are unknown.  She may be left with the deficits she has now - forgetfulness, loss of balance, disorientation, and some lack of eyesight / focus.  She may be left worse off.  It is unsure and too soon to tell.  So many things are unknown at this point.  But in the spirit of "one step at a time", at least now we have a surgeon that we trust, and is seemingly optimistic.

I received a message today from Di's best friend of 40-some years.  She lives on the East side of the state, and met with them before the appointment.  The night before the appointment, a story aired on their local news about this particular surgeon.  Read the story here: http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/cancer-treatment-saves-local-womans-life

It is the story of a woman who was treated by Dr. Barrett and "he saved her life".  She is "doing great and full of life again".  Mom's friend saw this as a sign.  And our hope is renewed every time we see these signs!

I was speaking with my dad this evening, and he expressed how amazing the outpouring of love and support has been.  They are humbled by the phone calls, texts, emails, Facebook messages, cards... you name it!  He was almost in tears as he expressed his gratitude for everything.  So, thank you.  As a team, as a family and as a community, we will carry them through this.

They were given the option to have the surgery as soon as next week. Mom said heck no! On May 11, they will be celebrating 23 years of marriage! Mom wants to wait the three weeks to give her some time to live and enjoy her family and friends. And they were told it's not an emergency. Obviously the sooner the better that we get that disease out of her, but a few weeks won't make much of a difference.

I will update with more information as it comes, but until her surgery I feel there won't be much more medical information to update.  But I will write about how she is doing, her demeanor, and how she's getting along.  Thank you for reading, and thank you for all of the support!  Keep it coming - it's still going to be a long road!