Wow, a lot has transpired since my last blog. There is never a dull moment in our family, unfortunately. We found out last week that my dad has cancer, now, too. He has prostate cancer. He will most likely be having surgery when we get back from Maui. It hits me every now and then just how weird it is that my dad and I have cancer at the same time. It seems especially weird because we are both so young. Yes, he’s quite a bit older than me, but still very young. My parents are both doing really well. My dad has really changed his eatings habits, too, and is actually going to buy a juicer so he can experience firsthand how amazing garlic juice really is. He’ll be hooked in no time (wink, wink).

I found out today that UCLA thinks my latest scan was stable. Yay! It’s always a little nerve-wracking waiting to see what they say, as they’ve been catching things that other doctors haven’t. They re-reviewed my pathology and said that they now think that my tumor is actually a grade 3, not a borderline grade 2/3. Bummer. So because of that, they want me to start radiation ASAP. They said I can do Temodar (chemo) first, if I would rather, at OHSU’s recommendation, but they recommend radiation followed by chemo. I asked if they would recommend chemo and radiation concurrently, as it has been shown that Temodar makes cancer cells more radio-sensitive when taking it at the same time. No, they don’t recommend it for me because they’re not convinced it has worked well for grade 3 tumors, only for grade 4. So they recommend radiation and OHSU recommends chemotherapy. So I thought I would complicate matters more, by calling Duke University today. They are the best brain tumor hospital in the world, so I thought they would be a great third opinion. I called to try and get some information and a doctor called me back within 2 hours. Amazing. She went over all of my history with me and then gave me their recommendation. And guess what? They recommend doing chemo and radiation concurrently. Nice. Of course they do. SO, all this to say that we really, REALLY need some wisdom in decision making over the next month. I won’t be starting any treatment until we return from Maui, so it will be about a month from now, but I’m sure it will be here before we know it. Needless to say, our family covets your prayers immensely right now. We are going through a lot, but know that it’s all in God’s plan. There is a reason for it, so we’re trusting in His love moment by moment.
Oh, I almost forgot. To add even more drama to the “days of our lives”, I had a seizure on Sunday. Remember how excited I was a couple of weeks ago because I was finally legal to drive, again, after my seizure last October? Yup, that’s right. Now I’m not legally allowed to drive, again, until next October. I’m sooo thankful that we’re coming into summer, so at least the kids and I can go outside, if I can’t get out of the house by driving somewhere (insert a very big sigh).