March 26, 2010

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.

1 comment:

jonah and becky lang said...

That is absolutely insane! I am amazed at how you dad is tolerating this. Wow.