To begin, we must praise God for the absolutely incredible nursing staff and technicians at Piedmont hospital in Columbus who have been taking care of dad. They have quite literally created a Big Jod fan club. Every time he leaves a floor the previous nurses have made a point of coming to visit or calling to check on him. We are so grateful for how much they care about, and have put up with our crazy dad, bad jokes and all!

To add to our praises, Dr. Pippas, who was mom’s oncologist 17 years ago took dad’s case and immediately joined with us in this fight and has been nothing short of amazing since he first saw dad on Friday evening. He immediately referred dad to neurological oncologist, Dr. Dunbar, in Atlanta and together they have moved mountains to get dad transferred to Piedmont Metro Atlanta to immediately begin radiation therapy and set a plan for chemotherapy.

Dad was transferred early this morning and is in room 2-29.  We are so incredibly grateful for the urgency that both Dr. Pippas and Dr. Dunbar have exhibited while handling dad’s case.

We met Dr. Dunbar this afternoon briefly and we were extremely encouraged by the large team she has assembled who specialize in treating tumors in the brain. We didn't learn a ton of new information regarding how advanced the cancer is but they informed us they expect us to be here for the next 2-3 weeks as they study his case and begin implementing his treatment plan. 

The most pressing priority for everyone is radiation to slow the growth of the tumor. We expect these treatments to begin tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest. 

At this time, if you could begin to pray specifically about these things;

1. Dad is experiencing severe weakness in his left side. It was present prior to the needle biopsy, but has significantly worsened over the last 5 days. Dr. Pippas feels confident that some, if not all, of his strength and mobility can return once dad begins radiation therapy. Please pray with us for the radiation to work quickly and for dad to continue to work hard to keep the function he currently has and regain what he has lost.
2. Dad has been struggling to sleep at night, which makes staying awake during the day to work on physical therapy increasingly difficult. Please pray with us for peace for dad during the night so that he may begin to get longer stretches of deep sleep and have the energy needed throughout the day for rehabilitation.
3. While she would never ask for it, we are asking on her behalf that you please pray for our sweet mama. She has hardly left my dad’s side and we know that she has no intentions of leaving it anytime soon. Please pray that she also can get some rest as the hospital “ched” (chair + bed) is less than desirable for a good nights rest. She has been through this before and she is coaching dad through it all every step of the way. Pray that she can continue to cling to God’s goodness and for renewed strength as we are not sure what the days ahead may hold.

Finally, thank you for the overwhelming amount of support you have shown us over the last few days. We knew we had a village of people joining our fight, but we had no idea we had an army. Keep the prayers coming, we feel them every moment of every day.

We love you all & Roll, Jod, Roll! 🐘

Brittany, Molly, Maggie