February 23rd Update

I just wanted to give a quick update for this week. After 5 days of radiation treatments last week I was getting pretty sick. I was experiencing a lot of nausea, vomiting, and headaches. My doctor was gone on Friday, February 20th, but the nurses set me up to see one of the PA’s and they were able to get me back on Dexamethasone. It is a steroid and helps to reduce swelling of the brain, which has been causing the headaches and nausea. However, there are other side effects to the steroid that have raised its ugly head so it’s somewhat of a catch 22. Today will be my 8th treatment out of 14. Since my doctor is on vacation I will be seeing another doctor tomorrow to go over my progress.

I continue to thank and praise the Lord for all the prayers and thoughts you have been saturating me with. I know your faithful prayers are going to see me through this ordeal.

February 17, 2009

Today was my second radiation treatment. Linda was able to go along and take some pictures of me on the table. If you are wondering who that masked man is. The mask is to hold my head still and in the perfect position to have the radiation do it's thing. Pictures are worth a thousand words. 2 down and 12 more to go.

February 14th

Last week I went in to MSTI Nampa to be fitted for a mask that will hold my head in place when doing radiation treatments. These treatments will begin on Monday, February 16th. I will be having 14 treatments 5 days a week for about 3 weeks; 12 of these are full brain radiation treatments and 2 will be just to the area of where the tumor was removed. Please continue to pray for Linda and I as we go through this next step. There are some side effects to the radiation treatments. We won’t know until we get started just how they may affect me, so I will keep things updated on the blog as we go.

February 10, 2009

When I went to the doctor last Friday we asked if we could get a picture of the MRI that showed the mass in the brain. The Nurse Practitioner who took out my staples printed out some of the MRI so I could post them here. Oh and she also was in surgery with Dr. Manning and said that I had the best looking brain that she had ever seen. I was quite proud of my "good looking brain".

Feb 7th 2009

No more staples. Yesterday I went to the doctor and we removed the rest of the staples (20). I also met this week with the radiation oncologist Dr Stephen Smith (Nampa MSTI). We will be doing 14 full brain radiation scans starting February 17th. They are to be done everyday (except weekends) for the 14 days. There are side effects to the radiation treatments, but I know that with much prayer they will be minimal. By doing radiation to the head it will cut the chance of recurrences of any tumor growth in the brain area.

Words cannot express how blessed I am to know that so many people have been praying for me. I know that beyond any doubt it has made all the difference in my recovery from surgery. Once again, I thank all of you who are praying for me and my family during this time. Please continue to pray as we go through the next phase of this battle to rid my body of cancer. God is the healer and I trust in Him.

February 2,2009

After 6 days from surgery I went to the doctor today to have the staples (40) removed from my head. He decided to remove only half of them now and the other half on Friday. So I am still sporting half the staples for a few more days. The doctor also talked about doing some radiation to my head area. This would eliminate any left over cancer cells and the reoccurrence of any tumor coming back to this area. I will have more to come on this in the near future, as the appointments are made to begin the radiation treatments.

“Blessed be the Lord, Because He has heard the voice of my supplications! The Lord is my strength and my shield: My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: Therefore my heart greatly rejoices. And with my song I will praise Him.” Psalm 28:6-7