Mayo Clinic Neurologist confirmed that we're dealing with the tumor now

I can vouch for probably most in the family when I say that no matter how much you prepare for news you know is coming, it’s not nearly enough preparation for the moment that the news is delivered.

Not exactly the phone call we wanted to get from the Mayo Clinic – but it was one that didn’t come as much of a surprise. Our neurologist called this morning and he had the opportunity to review the MRI scans from earlier this week. He confirmed that what we’re seeing on the MRI is indeed aggressive tumor growth, and the reason why we’re seeing Dad decline like he is. The areas of concern are now that the tumor is “bleeding” – so not caused by trauma, but by rapid growth of the tumor in a delicate area of the brain where the blood vessels are very thin. He said that he agreed with starting him on the BCNU chemo (once every six weeks) to try and slow the growth of the tumor, and confirmed that BCNU may not be the most aggressive drug out there – but the one that Dad will tolerate the best. It won’t make him horribly sick or lose his hair – which would be insult to injury at this point. We don’t want him to be miserable, yet we want to try and do what we can to continue the fight where it makes sense.

The facts are not encouraging. This tumor may take him very quickly due to a hemorrhage in his brain as a result of more blood vessels breaking; or he may have good results with the chemo and slow down the progression over the course of several months. We likely won’t see much improvement in his physical state (walking, strength on the left side, keeping his eyes open) as a result of the chemo, but we don’t know.

While we’ve often thought of the day we would get this news over the past 18 months, actually hearing it is a different story. We’re not done fighting, but we seem to be losing the edge in the fight with the latest update. Thanks for all of your notes, phone calls, and support. We could not do this without you!