Multiplicity?

The weekend was crazy.  Saturday we ran a 4 mile race followed by driving to Knoxville to meet with our minister.  Sunday was church, firework shopping, wedding cake tasting, driving home, engagement pics and then flying to the Midwest for work.  Well I'm in Iowa for work all week.  I look out my hotel window at a corn field, go figure.  It's a crazy big week with a bunch of experiments to perform.  The last couple of days have been miserable as we're not working in a climate control area and temps have been between 90 and 100.  It's supposed to cool to 80 tomorrow.  I'm here until Friday and then head back on Sunday.  Between that, wedding planning and my sister and her husband coming to my house in 10 days it makes me wish there was more Doug to go around sometimes.  It made me think of this classic movie:


Multiplicity  |  Andie MacDowell  |  Harold Ramis  |  Michael Keaton   | Movie Trailer | Review

In other news dad seems to be tolerating treatment well and so far side effects have been limited.  Hopeful it continues that way while simultaneously being highly effective!

Bucket List

So I guess things like my Dad's tumor make you think even more about cherishing each day.  My dad also went to the doctor ASAP with the first hints of something strange, that and taking care of yourself also are important points.  Most people who know me know I have a pretty healthy bucket list and also travel a lot for work and pleasure.  I have a personal goal to hit all 50 states and 7 continents by 40.  See the map below for how I'm doing so far on the states:


create your own personalized map of the USA

I'm pumped about Pam and my honeymoon.  Of course the primary reason is to relax and celebrate the start of our marriage, but it also has the frosting of going to Australia and Korea.  So far so good.  Alaska and Antarctica will take some work and the second one may be a solo trip, but think I can do it.

So what's on your bucket list?

Today is D-Day...The Battle Begins

So dad had his first meeting Friday with a radiology oncologist and post op follow up with the neurosurgeons. It was confirmed that Dad has a very aggressive brain tumor, but all three MDs have dealt with this tumor in the past and they are hopeful that with very aggressive treatment that positive things can happen.

Although this tumor is classified as a Grade 3 tumor, it is equal to a stage 4 cancer. The treatment plan already started Friday with dad being fitted with a radiation mask and an MRI mapping of his head and the tumor. Next week he will start daily radiation treatments Monday through Friday and we will also be seeing a medical oncologist to start simultaneous chemo treatments twice weekly. The plan is to have daily radiation for 6 weeks, then 2 weeks off, then possible cyberknife treatment for 1-2 weeks, then resumption of daily radiation for another 6 weeks along with the chemo the entire time. Depending on how Dad tolerates the above, this treatment could last 4 to 6 months or longer - shorter if he can't tolerate it or depending on how the tumor responds. The breaks are well timed in that it should allow him to come to my wedding and go to KC when my sis gives birth to his new grandson!

The oncologist told my mom that when she walked into the exam room where they were waiting, she thought she had entered the wrong room. She stated that after studying Dad's MRI's, CT's and the functional MRI from Milwaukee, she expected to find a patient mute and paralyzed on the right side sitting in wheel chair. Again, all are amazed at how large the tumor is and how few symptoms he has.  Mom says dad has diffidently gotten weaker in the past week, with more near falls and on rare occasion - some slight confusion, but for the most part Dad is Dad. Maybe a little quieter too.

We are still waiting for more reports to come back from Mayo Clinic regarding the chromosomal makeup of the tumor to know for sure which chemo drugs will work the best. My parents remain optimistic and are extremely grateful for the doctors positive attitude. They were informed by all the MDs that things will probably get much worse before they get better as there will be a lot of side affects from all of the treatments, but they continue to LIVE each day to the fullest truly believing that God has a bigger plan.

So today my dad's battle begins. Very few places in modern life are most men called upon to be warriors, but in this case he is. This isn't a battle of his choosing, but today starts day one of being a warrior.

Have lunch with God.......bring chips

A great little message I got from my parents:

A little boy wanted to meet God.  He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with a bag of potato chips and a six-pack of root beer and started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old man.  He was sitting in the park, just staring at some pigeons.  The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase.  He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old man looked hungry, so he offered him some chips.  He gratefully accepted it and smiled at him.  His smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer.  Again, he smiled at him.  The boy was delighted!  They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.  As twilight approached, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave; but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old man, and gave him a hug.  He gave him his biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face.  She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?"  He replied, "I had lunch with God."  But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what?  He's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"

Meanwhile, the old man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked, "dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?"  He replied "I ate potato chips in the park with God."  However, before his son responded, he added,  "You know, he's much younger than I expected."

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.  People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime!  Embrace all equally!

Have lunch with God.......bring chips.

My Dad's tumor has a name

Just a short note to let you know that we finally have a name for Dad's tumor. It called an "anaplastic oligodendroglioma - Grade 3". So far we've been told that it is an aggressive tumor, but it is one that the doctors are familiar with and it does respond to chemo and radiation. He meets with an oncologist Thursday morning at the Cancer Center, and then with his 2 neurosurgeons Thursday afternoon to discuss options. As far as we know, surgery has been ruled out as it would be too risky at this time with the issues with speech and his right leg. Chemo and radiation seem in the cards and seem to do well with this type of tumor. His doctors are strong believers in doing no harm to healthy brain and hence the desire to try other things first rather than something that could leave him with long term deficiencies.

This was the type his doctors hypothesized it might be from the beginning and is somewhat of a rare one. That's kind of a good thing though as the most common is also the worst. You'd never call a diagnosis of a malignant tumor a relief, but this type of tumor and its treatability is better than what it could have been given some of the characteristics.

For the most part Dad continues to do well although he is having more and more episodes of right sided weakness and near falls. It is very frustrating for him when he can't walk as steady as he would like. We've been advised that the weakness will get worse before it gets better, but he and my mom are committed to taking one day at a time.

If you Google this tumor it's got some serious and scary stuff associated with it. I'm comforted, however, that many people do well with these for a LONG time and his docs are some of the best in the country frequently getting outcomes multiples better than average due to their cutting edge treatments and techniques. Everyone is an individual and stats can often be misleading.

We all continue to request and thank you for your thoughts and prayers. As I learn more, I'll give updates.

Dot Dot Boo-Boo Stickers

So what is a brain tumor in the family like from a 2 y/o perspective?  Actually pretty funny, refreshing and heartwarming.  I remember a month ago now when we first found out and flew to KC to ride with my sister and niece.  We were getting ready to leave KC to go to see my dad and Ella said, "Papa has a boo-boo in his head, gonna try to fix it."  Guess in a lot of ways it really is that simple.  To her he's just the same old grandpa (papa), he just has a boo boo same as she has half a dozen miscellaneous boo-boos on her arms and legs right now.

Ella wasn't there in the surgery prep area, but one of the things they did was put fiducials (little dot stickers that show on an MRI) all over his forehead.  They use these in surgery to guide them.  We texted Ella's mom a pic (I'll save my dad the grief of putting it online).  Ella loves polka dots, she calls them dot dots and she likes to put band-aids on her scrapes, she calls them boo-boo stickers.  Ella saw the pic and said, "Papa has dot dot boo boo stickers!"  It kind of stuck and is one of my lasting memories of the surgery day.

I'm so happy Ella is around, she's been great relaxation, perspective and comic relief.  I guess we all handle stress differently.  I read and research, anything you need to know related to brain tumors, I'm your guy.  My one sister shops.  My dad sleeps.  My mom does chores and house projects.  My other sister walks and plays cards.  Speaking of my mom, she recruits others to participate in her stress relief.  We moved like a half ton of dirt and tilled ground that resembled concrete so holding onto the tiller was like riding a bull sometimes.  Oh well, mom was happy and it was a good workout, just wish I hadn't participated in my sister's stress relief too and gone for a 6 mile walk.

Still no word from Mayo (more on that later), but dad seems to be doing well.  He has a daily TV, radio and reading schedule now and seems in good spirits.  Wait. Hope. Pray. Repeat.