Long over due update

Hello Everyone, Today is Tuesday September 28, 2010 and we have some catching up to do. Chad's been doing really well the last few weeks. Other than the Vena Cava filter not coming out when they tried a few weeks ago. Things had been quiet. They decided to leave the filter in and say that it will be just fine to do so. It can stay in there indefinitely. They never could say exactly why they couldn't get it out.

Last week Chad had a follow up MRI done on his brain. Unfortunately, we did not get good news. The MRI showed 5 or 6 new cancer spots. I know, the news took our breath away too.

Chad is actually in the head hallo again as we speak and will be getting Gamma Knife surgery any time now. I am not sure if I have mentioned what Gamma Knife surgery is in the past so I apologize if I am repeating myself. Basically, it is pin head precise radiation, kind of like laser radiation. Without this technology, the alternative would be whole brain radiation which can cause damage to the healthy brain tissue. They said they would consider doing that if Chad were an older patient but that since he is so young, it is best to do the Gamma Knife again.

Things are going smoothly so far today, we came to the hospital at 6:30am this morning and it is about 10am now. The plan is that he will go home this evening. The first time he had Gamma Knife back in June was a horrible experience because Chad's anesthesia wore off too early. The doctors and nurses seem to be doing everything they can this time to make sure he has a better experience. He is pretty out of it right now and we are all watching him closely to make sure he stays that way until they have finished. Chad's Mom is here with us and Justice is at school right now. Justice is handling everything really well and is always good at making us smile and laugh. He always tells Chad, don't worry Dad, you'll be okay!

We meet with Doctor May again next week. We don't have answers to a lot of questions but that's ok for now. We trust Doctor May & Dr. Sahni fully and even more importantly we trust the Lord. Sometimes there are never enough answers to the questions we have as humans. Sometimes, we just have to fully put our faith & trust in God and let him take care of us. This is our choice and it brings us peace.

positive thoughts

Chad had surgery on Monday to remove the vena cava filter. It didn't go as planned. Unfortunately, after two painful and awake hours of them trying they could not get it out. It was supposed to be a fairly quick & easy procedure so he was only under light local anesthesia but for some reason the doctor couldn't get a crib on the filter. The doctor said he thought there might be a blood clot in it that was blocking the little hook at the top of it he was trying to latch on to. I am not so sure if I believe that was the case since when they did the ultrasound a week earlier it was clear of clots. My personal opinion is that the doctor just couldn't get it but who really knows . We don't know what this means exactly yet. We have to wait until he sees Dr. May on the 14th to hear what his plan is. Will they try again, will they leave it in, what are the risks of both, etc. For now, they have him on both the blood thinner shot and the pill. We assume this is an extra precaution in case there was a clot in it. He has been feeling up and down since the surgery, good days and bad. I believe we are seeing small but steady improvements, he is getting stronger and less tired little by little.
Everyday we have the choice of focusing on the positives, or dwelling on the negatives. Some days are harder than others to go with the positive choice. Thank God for our faith and our love for each other and our family because without those positives, we would be lost. We know in our hearts that God is doing his thing and Chad will be feeling better than ever very soon.