31 July 2007

Milestones of hope. Today was an amazing and amazingly long day.

Miracle #1 Mom’s therapy went very well today. She is walking better than ever. Unassisted! She played ball today with Mia for more therapy. (See photos). Lisa, Mara and Cami gave mom a full makeover. The male nurses were suddenly very interested in mom’s condition and in helping in any way ;-) (See photos). She is making great progress.

Miracle #2 We finallllllllly met with the doctors today for 3 hours. Picture this – A 4 person examination room was used to hold the conference with Mom & Dad, Lisa, Brad, David, Mara, (Dan was on business in Alabama), Cami. Each doctor paraded into the already packed room. Robbie the public relations intern, then Dr. Michael Montejo the radiology resident, then Dr. Randy Jensen the brain surgeon, then Dr. Lisa Hazard the 25 year old radiology oncologist, then at long last Dr. Michael J. Glantz. Each doctor gave us a little more information a little at a time. It was a little like having a meal at Costco from all of the sample displays.

Here is miracle #3. The Huntsman Cancer institute has not had a neuro-oncologist for the past 2 years. They are hard to find because it is such a specialty. We only know of one in the state and we can’t find where she is. So, one week ago Dr. Glantz moved to the Huntsman center from Massachusetts. His resume is at can be found at http://www.vtneuro.com/staff.htm . AND his personality is a PERFECT fit. He is caring and not arrogant and extremely competent. He spent an hour going over everything. “You are in charge of your body Liz” “We have a lot of options to choose from.” “We will work together.” Having him as mom’s doctor is a true miracle.

Mom has Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM ) (Grade IV ). This is the most aggressive form of Glioma. She has 2 tumors (I know – we have said 3 then 2 then 3 then 2) and several other sights that look suspicious including the one in her cerebellum. These suspicious sights need to be killed so that they don’t grow.

Here is miracle #4 The chemotherapy that is recommended is Temozolomide (Temador) and can be very effective on this type of cancer when used in conjuction with radiation. Also, it rarely makes patients feel sick. It is a pill that mom swallows rather than 3-5 hours on an IV. There is a good chance that she will not have any symptoms from the chemo. This is encouraging news!

So, we have decided to start chemotherapy and radiation (whole brain followed by local) immediately as they should not diminish mom’s quality of life significantly. We will monitor this closely and make adjustments ad hoc.

The Lord is blessing mom through this difficult time. The blessing of faith and hope are singularly important to us now. Please pray that we will all be blessed with understanding the Lord’s will and with the ability to have faith to see it come to pass.

The Christensens