The Game Plan

Well. We have finally come up with a time line and a game plan.

Dad has decided to continue with this second doctor, Dr. Michael Chicoine. He is one of the best neurosurgeons in the country, has won multiple awards, and he is the consulting neurosurgeon for the St. Louis Rams (at least that's what it said when I googled him). We talked about both options as a family and we just feel that having this more detailed MRI- we're calling it the road map- prior to surgery and then having another MRI during the surgery will give Dad the best possible chance to beat this thing.

The next thing that needed to be done was figure out a time line and get everything scheduled. The pre-surgery MRI is scheduled for the morning of Monday, August 3rd. This is the MRI that will show the doctor the exact location of the tumor and what it is close to. After that Dad has pre-testing with the anesthesiologist in the afternoon, just to go over everything. Between both of these, Dad will be down at the hospital almost all day.

The surgery will be scheduled for Monday, August 10th. Dad could have had it a couple of days sooner, however the doctor would have been going out of town for a conference just hours after surgery and we weren't super comfortable with that. The doctor will be back in town by the 10th and medically, there was no difference versus the two different dates. We're not exactly sure what time the surgery will be or how long it will take, right now we're estimating some where between 3 and 4 hours, although that is just our guess, not what the doctor has told us. We're also assuming that Dad will be in ICU for a day or two before being moved to a regular room.

Dad and Mikayla went to the Cardinal's game last night, they had a lot of fun even though they didn't bring home a win. They even brought home Gus's Pretzels for Mom and I and if you're from the St. Louis area... you know how good those pretzels are!

We really appreciate all the thoughts, prayers, cards, visits, and meals from our family and friends. One of Mom's co-workers is going to be setting up a meal train for us online, once I have more information, I will post it on here.

Dad still isn't really having any pain and has been feeling fine- since he's been great so far, they have lowered the amount of steroids he is taking on a daily basis. He's also gotten a little more dexterity back in his left hand, he can touch his fingers to his thumb a lot faster than he could last week. We're taking this as a great sign!

A Second Opinion

Dad got a second opinion today. I'm not sure what the doctor's name is but I know his office was at Wash U. This doctor said pretty much the same thing that Dr. Martin said as far as a diagnosis is concerned however his approach would be slightly different.

This second doctor (I'll figure out his name eventually) would want to do a more detailed MRI before putting Dad through surgery. This MRI would show the tumor's exact size, what parts of the brain it is near, and if there was anything intertwined inside the tumor. We already know the tumor is close to the part of the brain that controls motor function, this explains the problems Dad has been having with his left hand. After having this MRI done, the doctor would then do the surgery and take as much of the tumor as he could without having any impact on the brain. During the surgery, this doctor would also conduct a second MRI to double check that they have gotten all of the tumor that they can get.

As of now, this is the option that I think Dad is leaning towards. The only disadvantage is that the surgery with the second doctor would be in St. Louis versus being local, however that is not even a big enough issue to really consider it a disadvantage.

As far as a timeline goes with the second doctor, the detailed MRI could be as early as this Thursday, July 30th, with the surgery being next week or the week after. This all depends on the doctor's availability as well as the lab that conducts the MRI.

Mom and Dad have both noticed that Dad is starting to regain a little bit more movement and function in his left hand.. We're hoping the steroids have started to work and have maybe shrunk the tumor a little bit. Regardless, it's nice to have small pieces of good news!

Mikayla is still getting ready for school, this morning her, Dad, and Mom went shopping for a mattress for her new college apartment. She will be moving in roughly a week and a half but plans on making lots of trips home. Dad wants her to continue going to college, especially since she is very close to graduating. I've been saving my time off from work this week so that I can spend time with Dad closer to surgery and post surgery. The four of us had lunch today in between all the errands that they had been running and it's been extremely wonderful getting to spend the mornings before I work with my family. Tonight Mom and Dad went out to eat with another long time family friend and when I talked to Mom on the phone not too long ago, sounded like they were having a wonderful time!

Father's Day 2015... we had a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup ice cream cake.. Delicious!!

The Beginning

So my Dad has recently received some serious medical news. We have decided to start this blog in the hopes that we can keep everyone as updated as possible on his condition, especially once we confirm a diagnoses and determine the best way to treat whatever is going on. We love getting phones calls, texts, etc however as time progresses, it will be difficult to make sure we keep everyone in the loop everyday. As a family, we just thought this would be the easiest way for everyone to receive day to day updates.

For those that don't know, I am Rich's oldest daughter Ashley. I will be updating this blog as much as possible since Mikayla (Rich's youngest daughter) will be in school while the majority of this is occurring and since I don't really know what I'm doing, would be extremely difficult to explain things to Mom. So.. here I am.

On Wednesday, July 22nd, Mom noticed that the left side of Dad's face was drooping a little bit and that he was kind of talking only out of the right side of his mouth. Dad said he felt fine and neither one of them really thought too much about it and they continued their evening like normal. The next day, July 23rd, Mom noticed the same thing happening while Dad was staining the banister in the kitchen. They then decided that he should probably go get checked out so that night they went to the hospital (and if you know my father, he had to finish staining the banister first!) and Dad was still feeling fine. We found out later that Dad's left hand had also begun to lose function and feeling over the past week but he just thought it was carpal tunnel.

I was at work at the time and Mom texted and asked if I was working. I told her I was and her only response was "OK". I ended up calling her and she told me that Dad was in the hospital. At first I thought she meant her dad, my Grandpa, but after clarifying, I knew it was something fairly serious if Dad had gone to the hospital. I debated leaving work versus staying and decided to leave. I picked up my sister at home and we headed to the hospital. The drive from Wentzville to the hospital never felt so long...

Once at the hospital, we learned that they had ran all of the standard tests like blood work, etc. They had also done a CT Scan which had showed a spot on his brain, however it was not detailed enough to tell exactly what it was. Eventually a doctor came in and told us that they were going to admit Dad overnight and that they would do an MRI and have him meet with a neurosurgeon in the morning. Dad absolutely HATES just sitting around so we knew this would be miserable for him to just sit around all night. The nurses on Dad's floor said that his doctor usually made his rounds early in the morning and we could probably expect him to show up around 7 am.

Mom got to the hospital extremely early the next morning in hopes of meeting with the doctor. By the time I got to the hospital around 9am, the doctor still hadn't been in to see him and they had no clue when the MRI would be done. Dad and I played a couple rounds of double solitaire and did countless laps around the floor, just to try and pass the time. Around 10:30 the nurse told us that radiology said they were on their way to come get him for the scan. We waited and waited and waited and they never came. Somewhere between 12 and 12:30, Dad went ahead and ordered lunch. I had to leave around 1:15 to go to work and the still hadn't taken him for his MRI. Finally around 2:30pm they took him down to radiology.

At 4:30ish, Mom said they still hadn't met with the doctor. However, around 5:30pm, I got a phone call from Mom, asking me to come home and that Dad was going to need surgery but didn't want to say anything more over the phone. After making arrangements to leave work, I headed to Mom and Dad's house. 

Dad's neurosurgeon, Dr. Martin, believes there is a tumor approximately 2-2.5 inches in size, fairly deep inside his brain. There is no way to know for sure how long it has been there, but he is guessing around 3 or 4 months. Up until recently, Dad has had no signs or symptoms, no pain or headaches. Dr. Martin says that he has been wrong before about these things and it's a possibility that he's wrong and it is only an infection, however they won't know until after surgery. Dr. Martin wants to do surgery as soon as possible, possibly as early as this Friday, July 31st. He would remove around 85% of the tumor and then after the surgery, they would biopsy the tumor and determine if it was cancerous. If that is the case, Dad would go through radiation and chemotherapy to get rid of everything that the surgery did not remove. Post surgery, he would also have physical and occupational therapy. Absolute worse case scenario, Dad would have 14 months left to live.

Dad is getting a second opinion and will be seeing a doctor at Wash U tomorrow afternoon, 7/28. Whatever future action he decides to take will be made after that doctor's visit.

Dad is no longer allowed to drive or work but he has still been doing small projects around the house. While I was over there yesterday for a family BBQ, he was working on touching up the paint in the bathroom and hung some pictures and shelves. He will be retiring from work and Mom has taken a leave of absence from her work in order to spend time with Dad and make sure he gets where he needs to be. (***Edit: Dad is going temporarily on disability leave until we know for sure what is going on and what the long term picture is. He is not retiring as of right now.***)

I think I included everything that I know as of now.. I will update as often as I can. All we can do at this point is pray and trust that God has a plan for all of this. If anyone has any questions, feel free to leave a comment (I think this blog will allow comments...? I'm still learning) or contact any of us via phone, text, Facebook, email, whatever. Like I said before, we don't want this to discourage any other communication, all the calls that we have gotten so far have been extremely supportive and encouraging and I believe that as time goes on, we will need more and more of that.