A Tough Day with Tough News

Hello all. The past several days have been tough for dad and all of us. Last week, mom and dad were out getting some lunch when dad pretty much lost all of his strength while getting out of the car and he had a bad fall in the parking lot. The fall shook him up a bit and mom decided to call Dr. O's office to see if they needed to do anything. Dr. O went ahead and bumped up dad's scheduled CT scan (originally scheduled for May 6) to last Thursday and they added in an MRI. So, dad had both done on Thursday. Well, we got the results today in an appointment with Dr. O. It appears that the latest round of chemo has not been having much affect at all on the existing cancerous spots (save some reduced swelling around the areas on his brain). Unfortunately, this isn't the worst of the news. There are at least 2 more cancerous spots on his brain now. One is on the left side and another is on the right side of the cerebellum. Dr. O noted that the spot on the cerebellum could be what is causing him to fall (he had another fall yesterday as well). Additionally, the cancer has continue to spread in his abdomen. Dr. O mentioned that there are "several" new spots on his spleen and his kidneys in addition to what was already there. Dr. O presented a treatment option of one final type of chemo to be taken in conjunction with Temodar. This is pretty much the last form of chemo available for dad to use. The chemo treatment will begin soon, but it had to wait for dad to get a blood transfusion this afternoon as his blood counts were quite low. The blood transfusion was successful and by late afternoon, mom and dad were on their way home for dad to get some much needed rest.

Friends, I wish I had better news. Unfortunately, I do not. While dad is still battling bravely, he's tired a lot more often than he used to be. He's also scarred as he realizes that this is a battle that he's probably not going to win. That's very hard for me to type. At this point, dad is fighting to get as many days as he possibly can.

I'm not really sure what is the "appropriate" thing to say right now. I simply ask that you will lift dad and our entire family up in prayer asking that God will provide comfort and guidance to use in the days ahead. Thank you for your continued support.