Pathology is back - we found our Miracle at Mayo's

A few things have happened in the past two hours worthy of noting:

• We met with the neurologist in the ICU who happened to be up on the unit visiting another patient, so he stopped over to talk to us for a bit. He thought Dad looked good, and did notice that his field of vision in his left eye seemed to be impacted a little, but that could come back over the next week or so. Overall, pretty minimal. He also said that if Dad's strength didn't come back before he was released from the hospital, they'd release him to go to some rehab, which can be done in Omaha. He said that he did not yet have pathology reports back, but that he'd be taking his computer on a trip over the weekend and would let us know when he heard anything. He said he'd be back on Tuesday, and if we were still around he'd stop over to see us.
• Dad was transferred out of ICU and up to the step-down unit without too much difficulty. He's now settled into his room and getting comfortable. He had a few pain pills and was really tired after the transfer up here and sitting up in a chair, so he's back in bed and nearly asleep.
• We were not settled into the room more than an hour when a nurse walked into the room and asked if we knew the neurologist who was on the phone wanting to talk to Roger Dillon's daughter. I said sure, and my heart sank a bit thinking he got the results back from pathology. I got on the phone and I asked, "Is this a good phone call or a bad phone call?" He confirmed with an elated voice, "Good."

He said he ran into the pathologist on the way back down to his office, and the pathology confirmed the exact same diagnosis as the biopsy did last week - treatment effect. He said that that was ZERO evidence of high grade tumor anywhere in the sample, which is HUGE news. He said that he thought this all along since Dad looked too good to be having high grade tumor taking over. He also said that they are seeing a few cases like Dad's where a certain genetic makeup plus the temodar (chemo) plus the radiation at the same time are causing a dramatic treatment effect. He confirmed that what we did yesterday was the EXACT right decision to open up some more room for swelling and further treatment effect (the damage can have an extended ramp time before it peaks, but once it peaks it's done).

The neurologist also said that Dad should see some abatement of his symptoms over time (didn't say how long), and should see some of that pressure on his brain stem and the rest of his brain relax. Right now, he said there is NOTHING to treat him for, and that once he's dismissed from the hospital (hopefully this weekend), we should take him back to Omaha and let him recover. He said they want to closely monitor him, and he'd like us to be back at Mayo's in a month for a follow up MRI and appointment. He mentioned that once he's recovered from the treatment effect, he could see a prolonged period of time without any new symptoms or problems. How long that is, no one knows.

We are all ecstatic with this news, and are so thankful that we came to the Mayo Clinic for this treatment/surgery. It's almost unbelievable that the pathology actually aligned with the gut feeling of the neurologist all along. It hasn't had a chance to sink in yet, but Mom and I will be walking across the street for dinner (lunch was skipped) and likely a few beers to celebrate. I'm pretty sure I'll be finding myself inside of a church more often going forward.

We found our miracle at Mayo's. I'm ready to make the Mayo Clinic the primary beneficiary of my will. And I'm only half-kidding.