A Bittersweet Goodbye

Saying goodbye to a long time friend is so hard to do. . . . .

Michael decided a couple weeks ago that it was finally time to part with the trusty ol' Toyota. It has taken him a while to get used to his new big truck and he has such a bond with the Tacoma that if he had his way he would have both. But truth is that it just doesn't meet the needs of the family, so on Saturday he sold his truck.

The Journey Continues

Dad's appointment went really well yesterday. Dr. Neuwalt was all smiles and said it was the best outcome for a tumor like this!

A 30 person brain tumor panel, which included all his doctors, reviewed his case and all came to the same conclusion. The tumor is called an Anaplastic oligodendroglioma grade 3. It is a primary brain tumor which means it started in the brain and has not, nor will not, spread from nor to other parts of the body. Anaplastic means it is very aggressive and the possibility of reoccurrence is likely. In this type of aggresive tumor you can never get rid of it all. It is highly receptive to chemotherapy so he will be started in a couple of weeks on it, in the form of a pill. Side effects will be minimal if his body tolerates it as they antisipate. Follow up will be intensive with an MRI at the hospital followed by a clinic visit every 3 months. The study he is involved with has a follow up of at least 6 times this year starting on April 8th and 9th. The future is unknown at this point as the tumor will return, Dr. Neuwelt is hoping for 5 years. But at least we will be one step ahead of it the whole time.

This first picture is the Brain Tumor. The big white area on the top left side. . . . .

This is the brain after the tumor was removed. They said it was about the size of a tennis ball.

House Progress

I sat here for a few minutes trying to think of the right way to start this post. . . I am not really sure what to say.

The funny thing is that I started to get a little nervous at this point. (picture above) Nick and Byron came over and helped Michael rip everything off the outside of the house down to the insulation, then they covered it up with this black plastic to keep the weather out. Here I was worried about what might happen if it rained, little did I know what was ahead on this adventure.

Then the next time Byron came over they ripped the roof off!!! I told him he wasn't allowed to come over anymore if he was going to keep tearing my house apart.

Literally camping in our house. A remodel in Feb/March may not have been the wisest thing we have done. We really wanted to get it done before the baby came and actually wanted to start in January but with one thing after another pushing it back. .. . . .well here we are. Michael had taken the day part of his shift off so that he could get demo done and be prepared for the framers to come the next day, unfortunately the part that needed to be done was more of the roof and the wall to our bathroom upstairs. And then the rain came!!! I had to go out every few hours of the night and make sure water wasn't pooling in the tarps cause it would have gone right down into the living room. At least I am up every few hours running to the bathroom anyway.

OOPS! That beam was not suppose to go through the ceiling!

Michael and Byron built these fake walls and put them up in the living room so that we could save the sheet rock while the ripped the roof off. . . . well the walls did a great job! The beam however . . . . .

Finally we start to see progress. We were hoping to get the office/bathroom area done first but the weather was not cooperating. We couldn't take the tarp off cause of the rain so they couldn't do a whole lot over on that side of the house. But the garage started to take shape.

Monday (3-15) we finally got some nice weather to be working in. It was partly sunny but it was 64 degrees which made it a good day to have your house torn apart. The framers, Byron and Michael got to work early and did as much as they possibly could to the office/bathroom part of this project. Which included knocking out two more walls to the outside of the house.

Here the entry closet has been torn out and you are looking through what used to be a bathroom and then into the office and right outside.

Jonah came up to help Michael on his day off on Friday and they sheeted the garage. It was COLD and wet but they did a great job!

Michael, Byron and the framers made some really good progress on Monday. We were (or shall I say, THEY were) trying to beat the rain again since it was suppose to rain Tuesday. They got the walls up and the trusses but ran out of time to sheet it so the tarp went right back over the top.

Where do I fit in?

Babies are truely a miracle! And it's a good thing too cause with everything else that is going on right now this poor baby has been put on . . . well is it rude to say "the back burner". It is a good thing that it is so protected and safe on the inside at this point!!

Michael and I had started a remodel project on our house literally 1-2 weeks before dad had his siezures and it has been crazy around here! We are in the middle of having a room expanded, garage added on, deck put on the back and front porch extended. . . . we literally have not had a roof over our bathroom, office, or half of the living room for a week now. And did it mention it has been raining buckets! Nothing like feeling like you are "Oregon" camping in your own house!

Michael has been working around the clock between his real job and the house and I can't believe still has enough energy to come in at the end of the day and help clean up after dinner and put the kids to bed. It was our initial goal to have this project (at least the guestroom/office and downstairs bath) near completion before the baby came, but obvious things have altered our plan a bit.

There is just so much going on around here that I can't hardly even get myself to think about what the baby needs, or how I would like to decorate the nursery, or even to pick a baby name. . . Yep we have NO BABY NAME!!! The weirdest part is I am not stressed about it. I know as long as I can feed this baby and it has diapers and a place to sleep it will be just fine even with everything that is going on around us. It will be loved and cared for and what ever else we may think we need is just extra. Well, accept the name part! So we have just 2 weeks from today to D-Day, my highest hopes are to at least have a name picked out by then.

Ok, maybe I do look a little stressed. . . .

Raw Talent

Kaden has discovered how talented he really is.

Neither Michael or I can roll our tongue so I am not sure where he came up with this, but it is pretty funny to watch him. I'll have to work on getting a better picture. . . .

Road to Recovery

So much has happened in the last week it is hard to remember everything. But in short, Dad is on the road to recovery. We were told not to focus on what the next course of treatment is but to just focus on his healing at this point. However, a team of doctors met last Friday to discuss what his next course of treatment will be. He has 3 appointments here in the next 10 days so we are just waiting to see what's next.

Kaden helped Nana give Papa a bath.

The kids and I have been going over at least every other day just to hang out with mom and dad and to make sure they are doing ok. Helping with daycare, taking dad to the Dr., and making sure they have dinner. But mostly just being there for company and support. In the evenings we have been playing Dr./nurse. We make sure that he gets his meds before we leave in the evening and that the next 2-3 doses are set out and times noted so that mom doesn't have to think too much about it in the middle of the night. We set the alarm to wake her up and she already has everything ready to give to him. I think it has worked out pretty well. I have even been giving my dad shots in the evenings for the blood clot treatments. Never thought I had that in me. >smile<

Dad has really been in great spirits and loves having the kids around him. Last night I just hung out in the living room and the kids were in bed with Papa watching a movie. . . . really a nice break for me too. As long as we have been keeping up on his pain meds he seems to be doing ok. His hips and tailbone are very sore from being in bed for so many days so it will be nice when he can start getting up and around more, but he is doing a pretty good job of taking it easy.

Waiting

We are sitting and waiting at the hospital. It has been a whirlwind of a few days here. At what we thought was just a Dr. appointment for dad on Thursday our lives were drastically changed. We were informed that what the Dr. at Meridian Park thought was swelling around the tumor, the oncologist at OHSU thinks is actually part of the tumor, and therefore, he thinks it may be malignant. Dad was admitted to OHSU with surgery to follow on Saturday. . . . .which is today. Because of the location of the tumor they feel it should be an easy surgery, all considered. It is scheduled to take about 6 hours. The tumor is on the front part of the brain and is on the outside, they said that the area of the brain that would be affected is the mood, comprenhension part. They feel they should be able to remove the whole tumor without any problems, but we are releaved to know that this will not affect motor skills etc.

We were all up bright and early to be here with dad and to say "I Love You's" before he headed into surgery. Surgery got bumped from 7:30AM to 10:00 which has turned into 11:00AM. The whole family is here in the Surgery waiting area. My grandparents Jim and Betty, Aunt Jo (Dad's sister), and Uncle Denny (Dad's brother) all came up from California to be here so we are visiting while we wait.

Dad's (Dave) Medical Journey

Letter from Mom:

David woke me up at 3:00 am Saturday (2-20) morning with a grand mal seizure. I called 911, they arrived very quickly, and we were on our way to the hospital. After a CT scan and an MRI the neurosurgeon, Dr. Lupu, saw a tumor with a small cyst and quite a bit of mass around it. He determined that what they thought had been a stroke in 2000, that caused David to have 3 seizures then, was actually the beginning of this tumor growth. The mass around it was swelling that put pressure on the brain that caused the seizure. They put him on anti-inflammatory in the form of Prednisone and anti-seizure med Dilantin. He said there was no need for him to have to wait in the hospital so we were home that afternoon.

The neurologist said because of the slow growth (10 years) that he was pretty certain it is benign but a biopsy is needed to determine that and what course of action to take. It is on the frontal lobe and on the surface of the brain so he doesn't think it is invasive. We had a post hospital follow-up appointment on Thursday (2-25) with the neurosurgeon. They needed to take blood and make sure he is on the correct dose of meds, check mobility, etc. They called this morning and the meds are correct if not on the low side. He finishes the Prednisone today. He will see the neuro-oncologist up at OHSU next Thursday (3-4) at 1:00. They will set a date for the biopsy as a neurosurgeon needs to work with the oncologist to do that procedure which Dr. Lupu says is a major surgery in itself. David is not real fond of the thought of them drilling into his head. Resting on the outcome of the quick biopsy they may remove the tumor at that time. If not then he will be scheduled for whatever treatment is deemed necessary.

David is in good spirits trying to keep me in line. The meds make him dizzy, a bit slow, and very tired so he will stay home from work until at least after he sees the oncologist. What really bums him out is that he cannot drive, because of the seizure, for 6 months. :~( We are fortunate to have a co-worker of his that brings her daughter to me for childcare that will be able to give him rides to work when he does go back. His short-term disability will kick in on Monday so we are covered well in that area.

We are blessed to have our wonderful kids live close by and they are on top of our every need. Becca met the ambulance at the hospital with both of us in it ( I had a severe anxiety attack so they wouldn't let me drive) . . . Jason shortly after and Sarah came that afternoon. Aaron was on a fishing trip but his girlfriend Tara was there in his absence. They all came home with us and then Becca made dinner and she and the kids spent the night. Michael arrived from work the next morning and made a "healthy" breakfast. We then went to their house to watch him excavate their yard and enjoy the beautiful weather we were having. Aaron came home that evening and has been here every night after work. They are all rallying to help with the childcare kids and doctors appointments. God is so good in our every being and he knew what he was doing when he declared family!

We cherish all your love and prayers.
We will keep you informed as we proceed on this unexpected journey in our life!

Love,
Dave and Daryl