Dad WILL be able to get the radiation treatment detailed in the previous post. Bonnie took mom and dad up to the UofM and dad saw the brain surgeon (yes, a real brain surgeon) today and found out he is a good candidate for this additional radiation treatment. This Dr. has done over 3000 of these procedures and is one of the best in the world. The Dr and his nurse spent a lot of time explaining the treatment and even gave them a dvd to watch that shows how it works. The Dr. drew a picture of dad with this "halo" contraption over his head to give him an idea of what it would look like. When Jeff saw the drawing he quipped to dad "the dr. didn't make the NOSE big enough!!!" That made dad laugh. Dad will see this dr again next week and then have the procedure on November 1. He'll have to get there at 5:30am and it will take about 11 hours to do the entire thing. (See below post for more information) They will be putting 4 nails in his head to hold this thing on him during the treatment so you can tease him about the holes in his head. It's good to keep him laughing. The side effects are minimal and will include headache(well no kidding here) and fatigue.
Dad has been very weak and tired the last few weeks. The cumlative effect of the radiation finally caught up with him and he is struggling to rebuild his strength. Mom keeps trying to feed him and get him to gain some weight back. He weighs 160 pounds and needs to get some meat on his bones.
It looks like the trip to Arizona will be delayed as he has to stick around to get a follow up MRI and see the surgeon again on December 1. He honestly is too weak to travel at this time anyway. SO, hopefully he'll regain strength and be able to travel after Christmas. He really wants to get to Arizona but understands that he has to get better first and complete this treatment.
The Dr explained that he has an 85% success rate with this surgery and can do more treatments later on if needed. They will monitor the brain very closely over the coming months.
Everyone is very optimistic about this next phase of treatment and dad is determined to get better. You know how stubborn he is so count on his fighting spirit to prevail.
Send him some cookies or candy or any other fattening food you can think of. He needs to gain some weight.
We will continue to keep you posted. Thanks for the calls, cards and visits. And don't forget about mom. She can use your prayers and calls too. This is a lot of work for her to keep him in line and help him get around.
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