Treatment Starts Soon!

Mike is out of ICU! He has been moved to a step-down unit where he’s still pretty closely monitored, but it’s not as restrictive as ICU, so we don’t have to deal with getting kicked out of his room when more than two people are here or with the wacky visiting hours. We are still in the Motel 6 part of the hospital, so if you do happen to swing by for a few minutes, be sure to park at the South Tower. Do be aware that Mike won’t be able to sit up and talk with you, but he will know that you are here as long as he is awake.

Everything is supposed to be in line to begin radiation on Monday. Apparently, no one in the Columbia area does radiation on Saturdays and Sundays, so that’s the soonest he could begin. (What’s up with not wanting to work weekends? Do these people have a life or something?) The neurosurgeon who did Mike’s biopsy is supposed to come by to check on Mike and give an “okay” to start the radiation. Those of you who know the details of what we went through with that doctor’s practice in January know how difficult it will be for me to play nice if I see him. I’ll try to follow my mother’s lifelong instructions of “kill ‘em with kindness,” but it will definitely be a struggle.

The radiation treatment will be done here at the hospital. They have to do a simulation first, so the actual radiation may not begin until Tuesday. With the simulation, they do an MRI and have to fit Mike with a helmet made especially for him. He’ll have to wear the helmet every time he goes in for treatment; this assures that they are zapping the same spot each time. I just got a copy of the MRI Duke did on Monday, and the measurements of the tumor read 5.7cm x 5.2cm. That’s really smaller than I thought it was going to be. They don’t have an official report here from the MRI done on January 28; I didn’t see an official report there either, but the measurements given to me the night we first arrived at Duke (5.5cm x 5.5cm) were done by the neurosurgeon on call, so maybe that wasn’t a completely accurate reading.

Those of you with any medical knowledge whatsoever were able to figure out yesterday that I am clearly not a doctor (nor do I play one on t..v.). I wrote that Mike would get the Temodar through his I.V., but it will actually be through his feeding tube. I.V., feeding tube…is there really that big of a difference? (Don’t feel compelled to answer that.) I think everyone was able to use their inference skills to figure out that I meant Mike would not be able to swallow the pill for himself, and it would have to get in his body by some other means. Mike will begin taking the Temodar the same day he begins radiation.

On another positive note, I got to see my girls yesterday!!! I’ve decided that Ava and Savannah are going to have to stay in Columbia when they go to college because going that long without seeing or talking with them just isn’t a good thing. Ava is normally an out of sight, out of mind kind of girl, so I was very happy when I walked in and she said, “Mommy! Mommy!” I was lucky Spongebob wasn’t on, so I didn’t have any competition there. Savannah is getting huge—she’s gained nearly a pound and a half since her four month check-up three weeks ago. I’m going to have to check and see if Jenny Craig makes baby formula and rice cereal.

One other pretty cool story…Mike’s nurse for today told me that I didn’t know her (nor did she know me or Mike), but that Mike has been on her church’s prayer list, and they have been praying for him. She recognized his name when he was checked in. Pretty neat, eh?