Friday Afternoon Update

All,
We just met a while ago with the hospice nurse and with Dr. O. Dad's condition has digressed throughout the day. He has a lot of fluid that is settling in his lungs and it is causing him to cough quite a bit and to be unsettled. They did an X-ray of dad's chest to see if he has pneumonia, and while we haven't heard of the results, they believe this to be the case. Even if that turns out to be the situation, it is likely that we won't treat it as this is part of those final stages. The Hospice nurse did let us know that based on the signs she's seeing, she doesn't believe it will be much longer. That's tough to write, but we know that it is ultimately what is best for dad. Naturally, I will keep you updated on the latest.

I do have one request of each of you. We've heard a lot from many of you during the past several months and it seems that everyone has at least one favorite "Norm Story." We've laughed at many of those, and shed a few tears over some others, but I don't want those stories to be forgotten. Would you write them down? I'd like to be able to hold on to those as a way for each of us, and especially my children, to have a good understanding of dad. I know that dad has touched many, many lives and I want to be able to carry those on into the future.

Thank you for your love and support. We continue to welcome visitors if you would like to come by.

Much love-- The Parks Family

Update: Thursday Afternoon

All,
It is 4:30 in the afternoon and I wanted to take an opportunity to give you a quick update on where things stand. Dad was moved into a regular room in the hospital (5th floor of Rex Hospital) late yesterday afternoon. He's been on a fairly high dosage of diloden to help ease the pain (morphine wasn't strong enough) and he's pretty much been asleep for 24 hours now. He's occasionally unsettled and gets restless in bed, but after we work to get him repositioned, he gets settled once again.

Mom, Cassie and I met with a team from Hospice of Wake County this morning. We asked yesterday for dad to be referred into the care of Hospice here within the hospital. The people we met with were very helpful and extremely gentle. They patiently answered our questions and provided us with insight into how they can help in the days to come. As of now, we are currently under the care of the Hospice team in addition to the team at Rex. That basically means that we will get visits from the Rex nurses AND a nurse from the Hospice team (though we haven't had a visit from a Hospice nurse other than our meeting this morning). Additionally, we are waiting for a room to open up within the Hospice unit here at Rex. There are six beds in that unit and the accommodations are a little better than a regular room (including for the family).

The Hospice team provided us with some materials on what to expect in the coming days. Hospice has a nice booklet that they've created titled "Gone From My Sight: The Dying Experience." Some of the symptoms we can expect to see would be lots of sleeping, picking at clothes (unable to get comfortable), trouble with congestion/respiration and a decrease in blood pressure. There are many, many more signs in the booklet, but they are too many to list here. While it is difficult to have these types of conversations, it is also helpful as knowing some of what to expect can take away some of the confusion/fear.

As I've been writing this post, Dad woke up briefly. He let mom know that he wanted a sip of water. As I walked over to be in his line of site, he saw me and gave a simple "hey buddy," which is the normal way he's always referred to me. It was wonderful to hear that phrase one more time.

We've been very fortunate to have a few visitors the past 24 hours. In fact, dad's sister Ann Cox and my Uncle Pete are here visiting now. We are truly blessed to have wonderful family and friends such as all of you. I do want you to know that you are welcome to come by for brief visits, but please be aware that the visit will mainly be with Mom, me or Cassie.

Lastly, I want to ask that you will remember each of us in prayer, including Cassie's husband Josh and my wife Melinda. Josh and Melinda have been tremendous supporters for each of us during the past 6 + months. A lot of times they have been in the background taking care of us when we can't seem to go on and making sure that life continues on as normally as possible. Melinda, in particular, has worked very hard to take care of Anna and Ryan-- our children-- by patiently answering Anna's questions and making sure that they get to do all the "normal" things that a four year old and soon-to-be one year old (on May 18) would do. That's not easy.

So, that's the latest for today. I hope to have more news soon about being moved to the hospice unit. Once I do, I'll post an update. Thank you for your prayers and support.

Last Radiation Treatment Today

Hello all. As I write this, dad is undergoing his 14th and final radiation treatment at the Rex Cancer Center today. This is a long journey that began back in early December and was interrupted by the surgery just before Christmas. He will also take his final chemo pill tonight as part of this round of chemo. The chemo treatment will continue next month with a cycle of 5 days on and off for the rest of the month.

Please pray for a few specific things:
1. That the radiation treatments will be successful in beating back the existing traces of melanoma.
2. That God will perform a miracle of healing and not allow any new spots to develop.
3. That dad will be successful in the process of restoring some of the cognitive and physical functionality that he's lost during the radiation sessions.

On this last point, dad's vision and hearing has suffered a bit during the past couple of weeks. Apparently, this is not uncommon for people undergoing radiation & chemo treatments. Nonetheless, it is tough as he's not really able to see anyone or anything unless you get up fairly close to him. Additionally, he has a very hard time hearing and is experiencing a "buzz" in his ears. Many of these symptoms were present during the first round of radiation/chemo, and they did diminish in the weeks in between radiation sessions, so we are hopeful that this will be the case once again. Additionally, he's having a hard time communicating his thoughts when talking, and that makes him quite frustrated.

So, that's where we are on January 14. We appreciate your prayers and support. I'll update later once the radiation session is complete. Thanks.

Moved-- Again

Hello all. Just a quick post to let you know that dad was moved from ICU this afternoon to a regular room on the 6th floor where the neuro nurse teams are located. He has had an OK day-- still having some headaches-- but he's been able to eat a bit throughout the day. We aren't sure if the headaches are the result of the surgery or not, so please be in prayer that the headaches will subside.

I'll post more when we have it, but please continue to be in prayer for strength for dad and mom, both, as mom is staying at the hospital tonight with him.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support!

UPDATE: Out of Surgery

Hello all. Dad is out of surgery. We just met with Dr. Lacin (surgeon) and he said it was a success. He was able to go in cleanly and remove the tumor without any difficulty. In fact, Dr. L noted that dad was able to move his left arm on his own (slightly), which is the first time he's been able to do that in a couple of weeks. Dad is in the recovery room right now and will be there for the next couple of hours. Once he comes out of anesthesia, he will be moved to ICU where he'll be monitored overnight. If all goes well there, he'll be moved back up to the 6th floor to sub-ICU. Dr. L said that his goal is to get dad home before Christmas, possibly by Tuesday, but I believe it might be a little early to say on that.

I want to take a minute to simply say "thank you, God." Today is a good day-- the main goal was accomplished and the source of dad's pain has been removed, so we are hopeful that he will be considerably more comfortable now.

Thank you for your prayers and support this morning. We'll be at the hospital throughout the day. Please feel free to shoot us a comment via the comment box with this posting and I'll share it with mom and everyone. Thanks!

We're Off to Surgery

Hello all. It is 7:05 and we just saw dad off to the OR just a few minutes ago. I'll be blogging throughout the morning providing updates as we have them. I can tell you that dad was more alert this morning than he has been the past couple of days, which is nice since we were all here and got the chance to talk with him a little. He told us of several things that he's planning to do after all of this is past us, including playing baseball with his grandson (gotta get that kid walking first!) and going up to Boone to watch Appalachian play football next season. So, you could easily say he's in pretty good spirits this morning.

The surgery will likely begin somewhere around 7:45 a.m. and should last about 1.5 hours. I'll provide more updates as we have them.

Thanks for the prayers-- please keep lifting dad up this morning.

Surgery

Hello all. After meeting with the neurosurgeon this morning, we've learned the the tumor on top of dad's brain seems to be getting agitated by the radiation treatments and the radiation is not having the desired effect on it as it seems to be with the other spots. As a result, the swelling of that tumor is what seems to be causing the head pain, which leads to the increase in the use of the pain medication, which leads to dad pretty much being asleep much of the time. So, the neurosurgeon (Dr. Lacin) has recommended that dad have surgery to remove that spot. Dr. L indicated that on the scale of brain surgery, this is not one of the more complicated ones and by his reading of the MRI, the tumor seems to be perfectly positioned to be removed as it doesn't appear to be intertwined with anything else.

So, here's where things are. We are on-deck for dad to have surgery tomorrow morning at 7:30 a.m. The surgery involves removing a section of his skull, going in, plucking out the tumor and closing things back up. The surgery should last about 1.5 hours.

Beyond that, we don't know what the next steps are. However, whatever they are, we will certainly let you know.

So, we have a few specific prayers:
1. Please pray for wisdom for the neurosurgeon, Dr. L. Pray that God will guide his hands and use his skill to remove this tumor and alleviate the pain that dad has been experiencing.
2. Pray for strength for dad, mom and all of us. I'm not sure what else I can say about that one.
3. Pray for a miracle of healing, that God will completely remove this cancer from dad's body and will restore him to health.

Thank you all for your prayers and support.

Prayers Needed, Please!

Hello all. As I mentioned in my last post, Dr. O has recommended dad be released from the hospital and to a rehabilitation facility where he can begin the process of relearning some of the basic physical functions such as walking, arm control, etc. Mom and I met briefly today with Dr. O and we discussed this a little more. The only rehab center he could be moved while he is still undergoing radiation is over at UNC-CH, because they are equipped to continue doing his radiation sessions at that hospital with minimal transport. So, the hospital case worker is trying to get him cleared to be in that facility.

Here's where the prayer request comes in-- we need specific prayers for dad to be cleared to be accepted to this center and for a bed to open up quickly. Our preference is for him to be able to get over there as soon as possible, but we are keenly aware that this is all in God's timing. So, will you please pray for a spot to open up if that is God's will?

By way of an update, dad is resting nicely tonight. He had his 7th of 14 radiation treatments this afternoon, so we're half-way done. Please continue to pray for complete and total healing so that the cancer is completely removed from his body.

As always, thank you for your continued support and prayers!

We're Making Progress

Hello all. Dad has had a few productive days since my last post. He began physical therapy last week and that has made a world of difference for him. As you may be aware, radiation and chemotherapy is quite tough on the body and dad is literally having to relearn how to do some fairly simple things (walking, center of balance, etc.). However, the PT is moving him along to the point that Dr. O noted in her visit this morning that she's quite pleased with his progress and she is ready to move him to the next step-- releasing him from the hospital and into a rehabilitation center. At a rehab center, he will continue with PT and will learn to care for himself once again. We don't know when the move will be made, but she was putting a case worker with the hospital on the hunt for finding an open spot and getting him there as soon as possible. This is a wonderful praise!

I visited tonight with Mom and Dad and I was amazed at his progress during the past few days. When I arrived after work, he was sitting up in bed and about to begin eating dinner. We were able to talk a good bit. Unfortunately, he had a headache coming on and it took some time to get the pain medication in place because his IV had come out. It took a while for the IV team to get to the room and then locate another place for the IV, so by the time all of that had taken place, his headache had gotten rather strong and it was taking some time to calm him down. However, by the time I headed out for the night, he was finally starting to relax with the help of some music in his tiny iPod.

Mom has had a rough couple of days as the stress of the past week or so has taken a toll on her. She had to head for home on Sunday morning and basically stayed home to rest and take care of a slight fever until late this afternoon when she returned to the hospital. However, tonight, she was doing much better (that's what the rest will do for you!) and she was ready to get back into the swing of things.

My sister has done a wonderful job of helping dad through encouraging him, cajoling him when necessary and simply tending to his needs. It has been a real blessing to have her there to help and I know that dad is glad to have her there.

We continue to be amazed at the way in which each of you has cared for us in your own special ways. There simply isn't enough space for me to count all of the things you've done to help us and I know that we can never repay you for the things you've done. However, please know that we cherish the prayers you are lifting up on our behalf and we feel so loved knowing that each of you cares for us.

Dad continues with the radiation and chemo. Today was day 6 of 14 for radiation. He'll keep taking the chemo during the radiation and once the radiation sessions are complete he will go to a cycle of 5 days on and the rest of the month off for the chemo. We aren't sure yet how long that process will go on.

Many of you have asked if it is alright to visit. While we don't want to discourage visiting, we will simply ask that you try to keep the visits brief as dad tires out easily and we need him to build up as much strength as possible so he can take that next step of getting over to the rehab facility. However, please know that we do appreciate seeing your smiling faces and the warm hugs that you bring to the hospital for each of us. As I mentioned, I know that we can never repay you for the love you've shown to each of us.

So, that's the latest. We do ask that you will continue to pray specifically for complete and total healing for dad. Also, please pray that God will strengthen dad to the point that he's able to make the move to the rehab facility and continue the process of building his body strength back to the point that he can take care of himself.

We thank you for all that you've done! Enjoy your day!

Wednesday Evening Update

Hello all. I'm pleased to report that today was a much better day for dad. He started the day with a visit from Dr. O and a good breakfast. Dr. O told him that she wants to see him doing a couple of things: 1) getting up and sitting in the chair in his hospital room for a short while, and 2) starting physical therapy to help him stay physically strong. I'm not certain if he actually moved over to the chair for a while today, but I know that the first round of PT is due to begin on Thursday morning.

I spoke with dad on the phone after I got to work this morning-- it was wonderful to hear his voice on the phone! He sounded much better than he has in a few days. We talked about several items, but he told me that he prayed last night to God asking Him for a miracle of healing. I told him I was glad he offered up that prayer because so many people are asking for the same thing, but I also shared with him that today is a miracle. We have today, and that is a miracle. And if we have tomorrow, that is a miracle. And if we get the day after that, that day is a miracle too. You see, I-- like many people, I guess-- are so busy looking for the big miracles that I never really see the little ones that God provides us every day. Well, I don't know how to explain it, but I see those "little" miracles now and I'm so very appreciative of them. Thank you for praying for these wonderful things that God has blessed us all with!

Dad had his next round of radiation this afternoon. That's 3 sessions down and 11 to go. He also had his second round of chemo tonight. He's starting to feel some of the aches and sensitivity to touch that I believe are associated with chemo, so please pray for comfort and soothing for him.

We continue to be blessed by each of you. If you are able, I'd like to ask that you post a comment on this blog if you're able-- I'm reading the comments to dad when he's up to it and I know he would like to hear from each of you.

Thank you for your specific prayers and offers of support. It means so much to all of us and we definitely feel God's presence with us during this time. We love you all and can never thank you enough!

Tuesday Evening Status Report

Hello all. I'm here in Dad's room tonight as I write this post. Dad started radiation yesterday afternoon and it continued today. In all, there will be 14 treatments. Each session takes about 20-25 minutes. Yesterday was a little tough as dad was pretty much unresponsive due to the pain medication he was on. He didn't eat much of anything yesterday because he couldn't be woken up long enough nor could he swallow anything. As a result the doctor was not able to administer the chemo since it is done in pill form. Obviously, that was a little concerning. In fact, mom shared with me today that she knows God was here in the room with them last night. She asked God to help dad breathe and respond so that he could swallow, which would allow him to take his dilantin pill (anti-seizure medication) before they had to move to another, less desirable option. And soon thereafter, for the first time that day, dad began coughing and the nurse was provided an opportunity to get the pill into him. Thank you God for an answer to a prayer!

Today has been a little better. The nurse dad had today noticed the difficult response to the pain medication and took it to the doctor with a suggestion that they change to morphine. Well, sure enough, the pain medication he was taking was much stronger than the morphine, and perhaps more than what he actually needed. So, they changed him to the morphine and he's been awake much more today.

As for the radiation, he seems to be doing well thus far: 2 sessions down; 12 to go. The doctor was able to begin the chemo tonight, so that is now underway. The plan is to take that for 5 days and take off for the rest of the month.

So, that's where things stand for now. I want to thank each of you that have written in with comments. They are uplifting to all of us and it means so much to have your support. I do want to ask for some specific prayer requests:

1. Comfort for dad. The combination of the radiation, chemo and the various medications is rather taxing on his body. We need you to ask God to comfort dad by putting him in the palm of His hands and letting dad know that He is there.
2. Strength for mom and all of us. As I've said before, this is easily the hardest thing that any of us has ever experienced. Ask God to allow us to lean on Him and ask Him to continue to be our rock and source of strength.
3. Continue to pray for a miracle of healing. We continue to know that God is in control and He uses all things for His glory. As comforting as that is, it still kind of hurts in the quite moments.

Thank you again for your support of our entire family. We continue to be amazed and in awe of seeing just how many people love and care for our family. So, thank you. I don't know that we can ever say that enough.

ps-- I'm sitting here with dad right now and he wants me to tell each of you:
"Thank you for everything you've done for me and my family. I love each of you and you will never know how much your support means to me."

Good night all.

Trouble Again

Hello all. Sorry for the brief absence. Tonight, I'm in a room at Rex Hospital with dad. Dad has had a rough week that has culminated in some trouble today. I'll try to recap as best as possible to bring you up to speed.

On Thanksgiving day, Dad was quite groggy. While he was able to enjoy time with everyone, he kept dozing off periodically. We didn't think much of it as he'd continued to have trouble sleeping at night, so it would make sense that he was sleepy during the day. The next day, Dad and I played golf with my sister and brother-in-law. We kept it simple-- 9 holes only. Dad did reasonably well as he played probably 6 of the 9 holes, but he was worn out afterwards. From there, he gradually went downhill over the next several days. He had several headaches, one of which could not be quelled with Tylenol, so they went in to see Dr. O. They found that his potassium level was quite low so they prescribed him potassium pills and readjusted his steroid medication back to the pre-Thanksgiving levels. Dad went home and seemed to be doing much better.



On Thursday of this past week, Dad had another headache that couldn't be eased and on the advice of Dr. O, mom took him on over to the ER at Rex. They treated him with pain medication and did a CT scan. The scan did not show any additional cancerous areas, but it did show some increased swelling of his brain. They adjusted his medication once again and he was able to go home that afternoon. The game plan at that point was to begin chemotherapy (Temador) after he paid a visit to an ENT on Monday (tomorrow) to check into a lingering sinus infection. Unfortunately, that evening, while my sister was over to help my mom and dad with a few items around the house, Dad was having great difficulty with maintaining control of his body and about 8 p.m. the left side of his body went limp. They were able to get him into bed and gave him doses of his medication and he started to improve right away. We're not certain, but it seemed like he had a small seizure. Dad was able to rest comfortably overnight (Cassie stayed out there to give mom a break and to administer Dad's pain medication) and it didn't seem like he had any additional problems.

Friday was touch and go throughout the day with a lot of sleeping, but he seemed to be quite stable. I stayed at the house overnight to continue helping out giving the medication and dad had a restful night. When I headed out on Saturday morning, Dad was resting and they planned to stay at the house throughout the day. However, I got a call late in the morning and mom was on her way to take dad to the hospital. He'd continued to have problems with a headache and he didn't have a lot in the way of steadiness and Dr. O advised them to come in and a room would be ready at the hospital.

They got there and dad immediately began taking morphine for the pain. Dr. O came in and checked him over. She indicated that a neurologist would visit later in the day, but the goal at that time was to simply treat the pain and get him some rest. Unfortunately, the neurologist never came-- we later found out that he actually refused to come and Dr. O was quite ticked off at that. So, she ordered an MRI and one was done last night. Dad rested overnight and mom stayed at the hospital.

This morning, Dr. O made a visit to discuss the results of the MRI. The bottom line-- a 5th tumor has shown up on Dad's brain. This one is at the base of the cerebellum (the "little" brain that controls a lot of functions). That plus there's some swelling which is causing the headaches and the problems with movement on the left side of his body.

So, that brings us up to the current moment. Dr. O laid out the course of action: whole brain radiation and chemotherapy that would begin tomorrow (Monday). Dad is aware of all of the latest developments and he has agreed to go ahead with this course of action. So, the treatments will begin tomorrow and Dad will likely be at Rex for the remainder of the week or until he can regain some steadiness that would allow him to be at home.

I'm not sure what else to say at this point save a couple of exceptions:
1. We need your prayers. Specifically, prayers for comfort for dad and for our entire family. This is a very difficult situation and it is hard to maintain hope, so we need your prayers for comfort and hope. Also, we know that God can work miracles, so please pray and ask for complete and total healing-- if that is in accordance with His will.

2. We are choosing to praise God, even in difficult circumstances. I know this may sound crazy, but as Christians, we know that God maintains a perfect plan at all times for each of us. As a result, we really cannot question what His plans are and why He does what He does. Instead, we can simply praise Him for caring about each one of us to the point that He has a plan.

So, that's where the Parks family is on December 7, 2008. We thank you for your support and prayers. I will post additional updates as I have them.

Treatment Update

Hello all. After a brief absence from updates, we finally have additional news to report. Yesterday, we met with two doctors at Rex to discuss dad's status and next steps. First up was a meeting with Dr. O, dad's oncologist. She wanted to check dad's vitals, discuss how he is feeling and talk about where we go from here. Dad's vitals were great, though his blood pressure was a little high. Dr. O said that this was likely due to the steroid he's taking and it should come down as he slowly comes down off of the steroid. That was also something we discussed with Dr. O. Dad's steroid medication has remained at a fairly high dosage from the trip home from Calif. It was a little higher to help him make the trip, but he doesn't really need it to be that high any more. So, Dr. O provided a schedule for slowly bringing him down off of the steroid (can't go cold turkey on that one) over the next few weeks. This should help dad with some of the jumpiness and sleeplessness that he's been experiencing. Dad also mentioned to Dr. O that he's been having difficulty with hearing during the past few days. He's been battling a head cold and Dr. O checked out his sinuses and believes that the hearing problem is due to that, and not anything related to the cyber knife treatment. So, she gave him a prescription for some ear drops that will help with the ear canal and also noted that reducing the steroid will likely help with the sinus problems as well.

Then, we talked about treatment options going forward. As we've mentioned before, the cyber knife treatment went quite well. Dr. O noted that, at this point, we have nothing to treat so it wouldn't be in dad's best interest to go ahead with whole brain radiation or chemotherapy at this time. There are two reasons she gave: 1) since there's nothing to treat, they wouldn't know if the whole-brain radiation is successful or not, and 2) once the brain has undergone whole-brain radiation, it has taken all of the radiation it can receive. This means that if another spot were to appear, they likely wouldn't have any further treatment options available. That's also pretty much the same situation with chemo. Once you've done it with one type of chemo, you can't use that same approach once again. So, she recommended that we take a wait, watch and see approach. The cancer may go dormant and not reappear ever, or it may come back again at some point in the future. If it comes back, depending on where it is, we can treat with cyber knife once again or ultimately work up to whole-brain radiation. This is a little different from what we understood earlier, but we have a much better understanding now and agree with her recommendation.

Lastly, Dr. O told us that melanoma is one of the hardest cancers to treat and it pretty much can't be completely eliminated. So, this means that it may always be hanging out there and we may need to do treatments in the future depending upon what happens. However, Dr. O said that dad is already "defying the odds" in that he's doing quite well physically and he responded great to the cyber knife treatment. So, we continue to maintain a positive stance.

We talked with Dr. O about what dad can and cannot do. Basically, she said the only thing he cannot do right now is drive. He can play golf, he can go to work, he can help out around the house (mom wanted to get that one cleared up!), he can workout at the wellness center, he can travel and he can even go skiing in January as part of the family trip we've been planning for a few months. So, the basic message-- go out and live! There's nothing stopping dad from doing anything that he wants to do. In many respects, that was something dad and all of us really needed to hear. As I told dad, he needs to get up tomorrow morning and go. If he has things he wants to accomplish, he should do them. There's nothing stopping him from doing anything at all.

We did meet with Dr. Wu, the radiation oncologist who does the whole-brain radiation procedure. He concurred with Dr. O. It's good to hear doctors agreeing on a course of action, especially when you know they are all consulting on your case.

So, for now, we're going to take the wait/watch/see approach. Dad will likely have another MRI done sometime in January to see what's going on with the spots they treated via the cyber knife procedure. He's also going to have a CT or PET scan done to see if there are any other spots anywhere on his body. Dr. O wants to follow-up once more on the mysterious spot that showed up on his sternum back in Sept. that was investigated during the surgery to remove the lymph nodes back then. This is more of a precautionary item right now.

As always, we thank you for your prayers and support. Dad is doing great and we are thankful for that. Please continue to post comments to this blog as you are able so dad can hear from each of you. It means a lot to help him keep his spirits up and know that so many people are in his corner. Also, give him a call, shoot him an e-mail, or stop by and visit. They are welcoming company and are always glad to hear from friends.

I would ask that you continue to pray specifically for dad in a few ways: 1) that the cancer will go dormant and that no new spots will reappear anywhere in his body. 2) that God will keep dad (and our entire family) strong and dependent upon Him during this time as we know He is the ultimate source of strength.

Thank you once again for your support. We are very grateful to have so many wonderful friends and family members that care for dad and for us. Take care!

Post-Treatment Update

Hello all. Dad completed the cyber knife treatment late this afternoon and he's doing well. The procedure started about 1:30 and finished up around 4:30. Dad was a little concerned traveling over to UNC-CH this morning as he had a headache and was concerned that it might affect the ability to do the treatment, but soon after arrival, the medical team assured him that taking some pain medication was OK and he felt much better after he did.

I spoke with dad after the treatment and he said he was very impressed at the medical team. They were right there with him the entire time and were quite responsive to his needs. He had to go to the bathroom a couple of times and they gladly stopped the process, he took a break and they went right back to it. Dad also said that the procedure was indeed painless as he never felt anything. In fact, all he could pick up on was the movement of the machine.

Dad told me that he feels even more confident now after having completed the cyber knife process that he is indeed on the right path for treatment. As someone mentioned to me today, staying positive with a good outlook is critical, and we couldn't agree more.

So, with the first step done, we move on to the steps ahead. Dad will go back over to UNC-CH on Dec. 17 for a follow-up consultation on this procedure and they will do another MRI in 3 or 4 months to see if the process was successful. Also, as I noted earlier, dad will meet with his medical team at Rex Hospital next week to evaluate the process for whole-brain radiation and the timetable for doing that.

For now, dad said he was planning to go home, get some dinner, put on some comfortable clothes and relax for the remainder of the evening. He's even talking about going to the Duke/State football game tomorrow afternoon if he feels up to it!

Thank you for your prayers today and I ask that you will continue to pray for him over the next few days that he will continue to feel good and strong. Also, please continue praying for ultimate healing in that the cancer will be completely eliminated from his body.

Today's Prayer Requests

Hello all. As I mentioned in yesterday's post, dad will begin his first treatment today at UNC-Chapel Hill. This is the gamma knife procedure and it is scheduled to begin around 12:30 today. It will take about 2 hours and the focus of this treatment is to kill off the affected tissue on his brain.

We have a couple of prayer requests for today:

1. Pray for wisdom for the doctors and medical staff so that they will know exactly how to conduct this procedure so that it will eliminate the affected tissue.

2. Pray for dad that he will remain strong before, during and after the procedure.

3. Pray for our family so that we can be a strong support system as he begins the treatment process.

4. Pray for ultimate healing for dad and that the cancerous cells will be completely eliminated from his body.

I spoke with dad at length last night and he's in a good frame of mind. He's ready to get started with the treatment process and is ready to do what is necessary to beat back this cancer. Thank you for all of your support and I will update this blog later in the day once the procedure is complete.

Treatment Update

Hello all. I want to provide you with a brief update on where things are with dad's treatment schedule. Mom, Dad and Cassie went over to meet with two doctors at UNC-Chapel Hill yesterday to discuss treatment options (I wasn't able to make the trip over). Dad began the day with another MRI (likely better at UNC-CH than the one done in LB) and upon closer inspection, they found what they believe to be a 4th lesion on the top of his brain. Then, they met with the first doctor of the day. He is a specialist that does the cyber knife treatment I mentioned on Monday. The doctor laid out the details on what the cyber knife treatment is, what it does and what the side effects are. Essentially, they go in for one treatment that takes about 2 hours and use a system of lasers to burn off the tissue of the affected areas. As of right now, the main side effects we are aware of-- and these are just possibilities-- are being very tired and the possible loss of some motor skills. The doctors indicated that these are potential side effects, but they can't say for certain whether or not they will actually happen. So, we'll pray that they do not. The cyber knife treatment is mainly designed to eliminate the spots that are currently there, but they do not treat any other cells that may be lurking under the surface.

Then, they met with a neurologist to discuss in more detail what the game plan should be to treat all of this. The neurologist let them know that melanoma is one of the hardest cancers to kill because it reacts differently in different bodies. But, with that said, the doctor laid out a plan that is designed to aggressively go after it and eliminate it from dad's body. So, here's the plan:

1. Dad will undergo the cyber knife treatment on Friday afternoon (tomorrow) at UNC-Chapel Hill. It will take about 2 hours and he has to remain perfectly still during the treatment. They created a head mold yesterday to use on Friday to help him remain still. During this treatment, the lasers will be used at different angles to burn off the affected tissue. Dad should be able to go home soon after the procedure is finished and he'll need lots of rest. As far as we know, there will only be one cyber knife treatment session. The downside: it will take about 4 months to get the results of this procedure as they will need time to allow the tissue to either be absorbed by the body or hang around waiting to be removed. During that time, they will be looking to see if any new cancerous cells have appeared. If none, then it looks good. If there are more, we go back to the drawing board.

2. Early next week, dad will go back over to Rex to meet with Dr. O and Dr. Wu. They will do a consultation to begin dad on whole-brain radiation. I know I wrote on Monday that it looked like we wouldn't have to do that, but the medical team at UNC-CH recommended it as a way to get any of the cancerous cells that are under the surface. It kind of makes sense-- you need to go after the root of the problem or you will always be dealing with whatever pops up. Still, it's kind of tough to hear. Nonetheless, the sessions will be done at Rex, they should take about 3 weeks (Monday - Friday) and last about 10 - 15 minutes per session. The side effects here include hair loss, weakness and potential loss of appetite.

The medical team we are working with is still very positive and focused on eliminating the cancer from dad's body. And that's exactly what we are praying for. Dad continues to stay positive about the situation as well, and that is critical as the next few weeks will be challenging.

I want to relate one final thought. I was listening to a Bible study on the drive in this morning and Dr. David Jeremiah was discussing the concept of thanksgiving, why we should thank God (in good times and in bad) and how hard it seems to do that. As he was discussing this, I thought about something that dad said to me yesterday. He was talking with the doctors and said, "you know, I eat reasonably well, I work out, I take care of myself and I'm just a little puzzled and frustrated as to how my body can develop this." And the doctors in turn replied, "you know we look at it a little differently. We see patients that come in having smoked a pack of cigarettes each day, they are significantly overweight and have other medical issues to deal with in addition to something such as melanoma. So we are thankful that in your case, all we have to deal with is the melanoma." And with that, dad was able to change his viewpoint and stay a little more positive about this situation.

I tell you that story to say this-- stay positive and look at the different possible perspectives of the situations you are facing in life. We are choosing to give thanks to God for a few different things: 1) that other than the melanoma, dad is in pretty good health. 2) that we live in an area with top-level medical professionals that are the best at what they do. Not everyone has access to that kind of care. 3) that we have a great network of support from family and friends like you.

Please continue to pray specifically for healing for dad and for this melanoma to be eradicated from his body. Pray for the medical team and that God will grant them the wisdom to know exactly what to do to treat dad. Pray for strength for our family as we help dad during the next few weeks.

As always, thank you for your prayers, kind words and loving support. And, be sure to keep up the comments as they mean a lot to dad.

Many thanks.

Monday Update

Hello all. We traveled over to Rex Hospital this morning to meet with a couple of doctors at the Rex Cancer Center. I previously thought that we were there to actually begin treatments, but instead, today was to be a consultation and a "dry-run" for the whole-brain radiation treatment, if that's the approach they felt we should take. First up was a meeting with Dr. Wu. He is the doctor that administers the whole-brain radiation treatments. After reviewing his MRI from St. Mary's in LB, he said that it appears that there are 3 lesions that he can find. Additionally, he said that he believes dad would be a good candidate for a specific type of radiation that pinpoints on the lesions (called gamma knife), instead of doing the whole-brain radiation treatment. This is very good news because it means there will be less of an impact on dad with the treatments as whole-brain radiation is rather intensive. Instead, this pinpoint approach only treats the affected area and the impact is much smaller. It also has the benefit of being more precise. So, Dr. Wu got on the phone and consulted with Dr. Morris at UNC-CH to see if he agreed that dad would be a good candidate and Dr. Morris agreed that dad should come over for a consultation and it looked likely that the pinpoint treatment would be the way to go. So, we're currently trying to schedule an appointment to get over to UNC-CH for that consultation. If we end up going this route, Dr. Wu said we're looking at 3 treatments for the affected areas and that should be it (unless they find something else in there). Also, we believe that UNC-CH will want to do their own MRI, which is fine with us as we feel very good about their knowledge and abilities and want them to have the most accurate test information available. As a result of this meeting, there was no need to do the dry-run of the whole-brain radiation. Additionally, they've put the chemo treatments on hold as well as there may not be a need for them pending the decision about the gamma knife approach.

Following that meeting, we met with Dr. O, dad's oncologist. She, too, was quite positive about the gamma knife approach and spoke highly of Dr. Morris and his ability to provide diagnosis/treatment. She wants dad to monitor his blood-sugar levels and his blood pressure, but for now, she says that if he's feeling up to it, he can return to work and do things just as he was doing prior to the seizure. And since he's on anti-seizure medication, he's at a much lower risk of any further seizures at this point in time.

Dad will continue to be on a lot of different medications (some of which they will wean him off of over the next few weeks), but for now, the prognosis looks to be quite good. We continue to take the stance that we'll respond to this aggressive appearance of the lesions with aggressive treatment options.

Please continue to pray for healing for dad, specifically that dad will be a candidate for the gamma knife approach and that it will eliminate the lesions from his brain. Additionally, please pray for wisdom for the doctors so that they will know how to treat dad during this time.

I know I can't say it enough, but thank you for your continued support during this time. We stand in awe of what God has done in taking care of dad during this time and in how He has united so many people through this incident to see how He works.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, you are welcome to call dad or shoot him an e-mail. His e-mail address is nparks68@nc.rr.com. Thank you for your love and support!

Next Up -- Treatment

Hello all. After a day's absence, I'm back to writing on this blog. As I mentioned on Friday, I plan to keep this blog going as we shift from being focused on getting home to the next phase: treatment. Dad is scheduled to begin treatment tomorrow morning (Monday) at Rex Hospital in Raleigh. He will undergo both radiation and chemotherapy. The chemo will be done by pill and the radiation will be done at the Rex Cancer Center. We get started first thing at 9 a.m. followed by a meeting with Dr. O. to discuss the situation. Naturally, I'll post an update as soon as it is available.

Dad has done quite well since arriving back home. He's had a number of visitors since Friday and we've enjoyed every smile, every hug, every laugh and every tear. It's kind of been like a mini-reunion since arriving back home and that's been good for all of us.

Melinda and I have talked a lot since arriving back home and there's one thing that is a constant topic of discussion between us-- the amazing way in which God has revealed himself in this entire situation. This one incident brought together so many people in a short period of time. Additionally, we have heard from many of you that you were either praying personally for dad or your Sunday school/small group/church/school etc. were praying for dad-- that is an awesome thing to see happening. Please don't stop. We have much further to go and we can use every prayer you can offer up as we know God can do amazing things.

Thanks for all you've done in the last 7 days. I will keep you updated in the days and weeks ahead. Also, please know that you are welcome to call dad as he'd like to hear from each of you. It does wonders for his spirits. Please be in prayer for us at 9 a.m. tomorrow morning and specifically pray that God will allow these treatments to work and eradicate this disease from dad's body.

Have a wonderful start to your week!

Almost Home ...

Hello all. While most everyone has been sleeping, we've been flying across America and we've made it to Hartsfield Int'l Airport in Atlanta and so far, so good. Dad is quite tired-- but, heck we all are. I don't know about you, but it is difficult to sleep on an airplane under just about any conditions. Also, we had a nice surprise when we came out of the jet way-- my cousin, Jessica Ward was there to greet us. Jessica lives in the metro ATL area and was able to work it out to get into the gated area to visit with us during our layover.

We're waiting for our next flight, which departs about 7:30 a.m. So, for now, we wait. If you read this before we get home (projected at 8:50 a.m.), please continue to pray for us.

We love you and we hope to see you all soon!

Morning Prayer Requests

Good morning/afternoon all. We are about to head over to the hospital (can't get up to the room until 10 a.m.), but we've already talked with dad this morning. He's had a good night and we're hopeful for continued progress today. I have a few prayer requests I'd like to mention for today:

1. Pray for wisdom of the doctors. We REALLY NEED the neurologist to read the MRI and talk with us about the results. This is a critical step in the entire process of care and we need to keep it moving. Pray that the doctor will take this action and that God will grant him wisdom when reviewing it for an accurate interpretation of the situation.

2. Pray for strength for our family. I know I keep mentioning this one, but we really need as much strength as possible. Please ask God to stand right beside us and let us feel His presence.

3. Continue to pray for dad's complete and total healing. As I've said before, we know that God can do awesome things and this one is nowhere near outside of His grasp. Pray that dad will completely recover from this situation.

Thank you for your continued support. I just printed off the latest round of comments and we will read those to dad today. Also, in case you were wondering, I would love to post more updates as they happen, but the hospital doesn't have a wifi connection, so I can only post an update when I get back to the hotel. I'll try to keep everyone updated as quickly as possible throughout the day. Also, please feel free to pass along this link to others in case they aren't aware of it. Thank you for your support and we love all of you!