How quickly things change...

Today is Thursday June 3rd. Yesterday seems like a blur now. The CT scan they did after Chad had that terrible headache Tuesday night revealed a spot on his brain. They weren’t sure if it was a bleeder, cancer, both or what. It is about the size of a nickel. Dr. May ordered an MRI to get a better look. He also scheduled a consult with a neurologist. Things started moving quickly after that. The big concern was that Chad was on blood thinners to treat the blood clots in his lungs. They had to stop the blood thinner right away to prevent further bleeding from the spot in his brain. The question was how would they treat both without causing further risk to one or the other.

So within a couple of hours, it was decided he needed to have a Vena cava filter. A Vena cava filter is a metallic, umbrella-shaped device that catches blood clots to prevent them from traveling to the lungs. It’s put in the inferior vena cava, the large vein that carries de-oxygenated blood from the lower half of the body into the right atrium of the heart. It was put in late last night and Chad did just fine. They didn’t put him to sleep, he was just kind of out of it. Immediately following that procedure, he had an MRI. By this time it was about midnight and he was exhausted.

It has been determined that the spot in/on his brain is cancer. It has grown or spread there since the last MRI he had 3 or 4 weeks ago that was clear. The good news is that Johnston-Willis is one of only 3 hospitals in Virginia that offers what’s called Gamma Knife radiosurgery. Gamma Knife is a very precise and effective instrument that uses radiation to treat the brain and is often called radiosurgery. Using this method, doctors are able to focus radiation directly, and very precisely, on the target in the brain without affecting surrounding healthy tissue. He will have this procedure done one day next week. It is done as an outpatient procedure and they are saying it’s not that bad at all. They will do another MRI right before the procedure just to be sure there are no other cancer spots. All cancer spots in the brain they see that morning, will be treated with the Gama knife.

Things have been changing at such a fast rate we can barely keep up. Chad is exhausted and just can’t get a long period of sleep without being woken up or prodded. I don’t know if it’s even physically possible for me to cry anymore and I’m constantly scared to death of what might happen next. We are both losing our stamina, but not our faith. With the number of things that have gone “wrong” we are sure it is all God’s way of making sure everything turns out right in the end. If he didn’t get that headache when he did, they might not have known the cancer had spread to his brain for a long time to come. If lot’s of the “wrongs” didn’t happen at just the “right” time, things could have been much worse, many times. When we look at it this way, it helps to remind us that God’s in control, knows exactly what he is doing, and that all we have to do is have faith in that.

Chad is getting a blood transfusion today, his hemoglobin level dropped to a 7.1 this morning and with everything else going on Dr. May stressed the importance of the transfusion. After talking and thinking about it lot’s, Chad agreed to go ahead with it. Dr. May says this will help him to feel better and to stay strong to fight off infections. He may even be able to come home tomorrow!!