April 3, 2010

I am visiting Jenny and the kids in Tennessee and Stevie and Donna were kind enough to give me a ride to the airport. Mom and Dad spent most of yesterday at the cancer center for follow-up appointments and another round of chemo. She started out yesterday morning with an MRI, then saw Dr. Torres and got the results of the MRI. I briefly spoke with Mom and Dad on the phone yesterday, then got an email from Dad explaining what's going on, but from what I've understood, there are two lesions on Mom's brain. One is in the motor cortex of her brain and is responding well to the infusion chemo that she has been taking every two weeks. The other is anterior to the original lesion that was surgically removed and it is not responding to the infusion. The good part about this is that it is not in the motor cortex of her brain and could be surgically removed; however, because she is taking blood thinners with her infusion chemo, she would have to stop that treatment for 2 weeks prior to and 2 week post-operation. Dr. Torres would rather not go that route yet due to the shrinking of the other lesion. An alternative to the surgery is the Gamma knife. I believe this is another form of radiation, but is a more precise treatment that could target a more specified area. She will also begin a 21-day course of the Timidar, which is the chemotherapy pill that she had previously been taking in a 5-day treatment once a month. She had been looking forward to working early voting at the courthouse this month, but with the new developments, it looks like that's not going to work out very well. With the new course of additional treatment, she'll have to have weekly blood tests.

Please continue to remember Mom in your prayers. Pray for healing and mental and physical strength as we try out yet another treatment. Thankfully, God has allowed the infusion chemo to work on the tumor that was causing her strength deficits and peripheral vision problems, but continue to ask him to touch her with his healing powers to allow this treatment to be effective on the other tumor.

I hope all of you have a very happy and blessed Easter! Be thankful for the gift of salvation that was so graciously given for each and every one of us.