Dave hasn't been feeling great for a while, a little over a year. His first major sign of illness most of us noticed was dramatic weight loss. When this happened, he saw a doctor who ran some tests, which all came back normal. They sent him to a nutritionist to work on regaining weight. This summer, he also experienced severe headaches, dizziness,shakiness, stomach issues, vision problems, and other signs of illness. Finally, his doctor scheduled an MRI. The MRI was scheduled for Thursday, October 29th. The MRI showed that he had a tumor about the size of a golfball in the right temporal lobe of his brain, which was putting pressure on other areas of the brain. He was sent directly to the ER and told that he would be admitted to the hospital. After a couple of hours it was determined that surgery would not be able to be done until Monday. As he was currently not experiencing any pain, they allowed us to go home, which was a great blessing. This large tumor can be removed surgically, however he also has some other affected areas that can hopefully be reduced through radiation and chemotherapy in the near future. We won't know the severity of the situation until they remove the larger tumor and determine what exactly we are dealing with. On Monday, November 2nd, Dr. McIver( the surgeon) removed approximately 95% of his largest tumor. The tumor was analyzed and it was determined to be a level 4 glioblastoma, and brain cancer. His Journey will continue to be updated via this site. We are so thankful for all the love and prayers we have received from everyone! It's a tough time but we are all staying optimistic and positive, especially Dave. Please continue to send positive thoughts and prayers for Dave’s recovery as well as strength for my family and me! We have a long road ahead filled with chemotherapy,radiation, and possibly additional procedures. Two sites have been set up to help offset medical and other costs: Nelson Strong t-shirts (56!):
https://www.bonfirefunds.com/56-nelson-strong And a GoFundMe page:
https://www.gofundme.com/davidnelson56 Again, keep the prayers coming!!!
