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.