David, Dan and I went to meet with Dr. Timmerman, the radiation oncologist that our doctors swooped in to enlist in this adventure, Wednesday afternoon at 2:00. He is not only a professor at UT Southwestern, but head of the department. So ... were in good hands. As delightful as he was as a person, he did not cover up the truth of our situation. Davids tumor is quite rare, as Ive mentioned before. They might, note ... might ... see 2 of these a year here in Dallas. David is part of a study, which carries with it a certain treatment protocol. His reads ... 6 rounds of prescribed chemo, 6 rounds of radiation. When the tumor stopped shrinking, he officially went off on a tangent branch of that protocol that resulted in the 2nd brain surgery he just went through. Well, we just found out that because there is a bit piece of the tumor still remaining ... He is an anomaly in the treatment protocol ... There is no how to treat with a portion of tumor remaining section in the protocol. So now, we rely on the genius of this doctor. David will still receive 6 weeks of radiation, 5 days a week, starting next week. This hopefully will keep any of the malignancy from popping up in the ventricles of his brain, to regrow ... Which is what happens with this type of brain cancer. In addition, he still has a small portion of malignant tumor remaining ... The bit piece that was just too dangerous to remove, as it was on a major vein running through the brain. For this he will undergo gamma knife surgery that will be conducted by both his neurosurgeon and Dr. Timmerman ... At the same time. 2 brilliant medical doctors consulting in surgery works for me. This will happen after all the radiation is completed. Now, the downside. The radiation has to cover all the ventricular surfaces in the brain near where the tumor resided. Right in those spaces is a goldmine of the brain, as Dr. Timmerman so succinctly stated. What resides in those area s is major hormonal controls, vision pathways and short term memory. David will need to have annual checks with a doctor for the rest of his life for hormonal imbalances, he could have some vision impairment, and ... He could have significant reduction in his short term memory. He will need to learn how to use skills and tools to remember what he hears on a day to day basis. With mastery of those tools, and pronounced repetition, he will be able to store those short term memories into his long term memory. But ... That is very different than the way his mind works at the moment. And ... He is just a junior in high school . How this will impact learning and test taking for college remains to be seen. How it impacts college is a huge question. Dr. Timmerman and his nurse stressed over and over how he will have to learn to adapt. And to not give up ... New neural pathways can be built with constant work ... But that is a tough sentence to pronounce on a 16 year old A/B student who ha s his sights set on computer programming at UT. He went back in yesterday for them to map his brain essentially. Following, a giant team of physicists, doctors and some other type of specialist, which I cant recall, will develop the mathematical perfect plan for how to radiate his brain. Sci-fi ... Right? I will have to work with the senior high school as these treatments happen every day for 6 weeks during school hours. He shouldnt feel too badly, except for needing a nap somewhere following each treatment, but it is half an hour into Dallas, half an hour treatment, half an hour back ... A chunk out of his school day. Bless his heart ... He took all this without a blink. I mean ... What else can he do right? But after all this relatively smooth sailing, we didnt expect the side effects. In fact we didnt expect the little bit of residual tumor to be a big deal. It is. The best part is that he is young and 16 and healthy and can bounce back. The worst part i s that he is young and 16 and has to deal with this junk for the rest of his life. A conundrum ... That I wouldnt wish upon anyone, much less my sweet boy. Im sure I dont need to reiterate the need for powerful prayer for him. Almost done, yet not even close. Thank you all again for the supportive messages, prayers, food and surprises. It really does carry us along.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 22:43:03 +0000
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