Kevin’s Story

Site created on June 17, 2012

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Kevin was diagnosed with a brain tumor on June 7, 2012.  He had been experiencing headaches and dizziness for several weeks, but when he started vomiting and becoming disoriented I took him to the doctor.  The doctor ordered a CT scan which revealed a mass in his brain in the right frontal lobe.  After further testing through an MRI, a neurosurgeon confirmed it was a type of glioma tumor which he believed was inoperable.  He recommended doing a biopsy, then proceeding with radiation and chemo.  We decided to get a second opinion from Dr. Hadjipanayis at the Emory Clinic in Atlanta.  Dr. Hadji.. felt it was important to do a craniotomy and remove part of the tumor to relieve pressure on the brain.  Kevin was already starting to have serious symptoms that indicated the tumor was pushing across the midline of the brain.  He was able to schedule surgery for Thursday, June 14, at Emory Midtown Hospital in Atlanta, GA.  The surgery went well and Kevin recovered well from the surgery.  When he was released from the hospital he went to an inpatient rehabilitation center for extensive therapy to recondition and remap the brain.  After seven days of inpatient rehab, Kevin came home to recuperate.  At that time we met with the Dr. Hadjipanayis' team and found out that his tumor was a grade III astrocytoma tumor.  Because it had spread to four different areas of the brain, they decided to treat it as agressively as a grade IV, combining radiation and chemo at the beginning of treatment.

After Kevin developed chest pain and shortness of breath on July 7, we made an emergency trip to Emory Midtown.  They discovered that Kevin had blood clots in his leg and both lungs, so we began twice daily injections of Lovenox.  He did begin chemo and radiation on July 12.  The radiation will last 6 weeks, but the chemo will continue for a year.  Kevin also began outpatient therapy on July 18 in hopes that he can return to work some time in the near future:-)

We are praising God for how quickly we were able to get a second opinion and have surgery to remove part of the tumor.  We will continue to trust God as we journey through the next few weeks and months.  We are hopeful that the treatments will slow the growth of the cancer to extend Kevin's life as long as possible.  (At this time, there is no cure for this type of tumor.)  Thank you for joining us on this journey into the unknown!

Newest Update

Journal entry by Kristen Shultis

Time has marched on and it has now been 11 years since cancer stole my father's last breath. Last year for the 10th 'deathaversary,' we spent time together at Cape San Blas with the Buuck family remembering him and his love for the beach. The beach in October is lovely, and it was sweet time together. Last year's deathaversary was an interesting day of death and life for me, because that is the day I found out Ron and were expecting our miracle baby! I had a fertility surgery last summer, and we'd been doing fertility treatments, waiting and hoping, It just so happened that while we were on the trip, it was the window to test to see if our latest treatment cycle had been successful. My thought process about testing on that day was, "Well, if it's negative, I'm already expecting to be sad about Dad, so nobody will know any different." After a number of disappointments, I wasn't really expecting a positive result, so I was truly stunned that morning. 

Fast forward to today, and I was holding our son in my arms, telling him about his late grandfather as we all watched a family photo montage video together. I wish my father could have had the joy of knowing our son and being a grandparent. What grieves me the most these days is all the things my father is missing and realizations about future things he will not be part of. 

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