Procedure Details

Quick update re: the procedure....Dad met with the doctor who will preform the procedure yesterday for his consultation and pre-testing. As I mentioned in the last post, Dad has two areas of activity in his brain. They are the same areas as his previous brain tumors. The Doctor who will perform the procedure reviewed Dad's scans and feels the activity is active tumor vs residual effects from radiation as considered previously. Since the activity is in two different areas, Dad will have to undergo the procedure twice - one for each area. The earliest the doctors could schedule it is next Friday (July 5th) so that's what we are going with. The 2nd procedure will likely be two weeks following.

As I mentioned in the previous post, the procedure is really new and only a few Doctors in STL perform it but it's our best shot. Dad will go in on the 4th for his prep to get the mapping "doughnuts" applied to his head again. On the day of the procedure...similar to a craniatomy, he will be under anesthesia for 5-6 hours. They will make a circle incision and use a really hot wand to "burn" the cells in the area to kill them. The risks are just the same for the brain as with a craniotomy, but this procedure is supposed to be less invasive on the body in terms of recovery. He will be in ICU for 2-3 days afterwards and the recovery period is expected to be 4-6 weeks, but every patients case is different...esp when dealing with cancer and melanoma. We'll just take one day at a time.

Sad to miss our annual 4th of July trip to the Spengler's at the lake - Dad always really looks forward to it. Hopefully we'll be able to reschedule for another time later in the summer if his recovery goes smoothly - something to work towards.

Could use many many prayers that this procedure goes well and allows for Dad to be more comfortable and hopefully gain a little more strength...

As always, thanks again for the continued support and for all of the favors and nice gestures. Mom and Dad appreciate everything very much and are so lucky to be surrounded by such caring and generous family, friends and community.