Dad was diagnosed with Primary CNS Lymphoma over the weekend. It all started on Wednesday night when he went into the ER at Burnsville Ridges complaining of headaches, fuzzy feeling in his face and feeling/acting confused. They ran some tests including a CT scan and an MRI before transferring him to the University of Minnesota later that night due to finding 2 large tumors in his brain. Once he was admitted to the U of M, they continued to run more tests, talked to a team of neurologists and surgeons, all who suspected the tumors in his brain to be Primary CNS Lymphoma. This would be confirmed with a biopsy of the tumor which happened on Friday morning. The procedure went well and just a couple hours post-surgery, the Neuro surgeon and many pathologists from across the country gave us a "preliminary" confirmation that it is Primary CNS Lymphoma and they need to attack the tumors immediately, so he will not be discharged and will stay with us until at least after he's received his first treatment. (They had originally planned on letting him go home yesterday (24 hours after the biopsy), but the tumor showed concrete signs that this is a very aggressive cancer and time is of essence).
Fast forward to today, (Sunday, 4/28), dad is preparing for his first chemo treatment that starts tomorrow, 4/29/19. They will start with a bone marrow biopsy right away in the morning, then treatment will begin. They inserted the pick line this afternoon, he received communion from Father Neil (St. John's Church) who came to visit him and pray supernatural powers over him as he starts this battle to beat this nasty cancer he has that the doctor says is simply from "bad luck", and spend time with his family and friends. Sometime tomorrow or Tuesday, the Oncologist will sit down with us and be able to give a "full report" of what he has and confirm his diagnosis. Although they have given us the preliminary report, things could change with the results of the pet scan, the bone marrow biopsy, and the pathology report from the brain biopsy, but we are confident in the doctor’s orders and the treatment plan they have planned for him thus far.
Chemotherapy treatment plan: He'll start chemotherapy tomorrow (4/29/19) and will have 1 treatment every 2 weeks for 16 weeks (8 treatments total). He'll be admitted for each of his treatments and will stay anywhere from 2-5 days each treatment given. They also warned us of a possible bone marrow transplant at some point during his treatment plan.
I will end by saying that dad is the strongest, hardworking, determined man I know, and we all BELIEVE that he WILL beat this terrible cancer and live to tell his amazing story for many years to come!! "God did not promise the days without pain, laughter without sorrow, nor sun without rain, but he did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way. Amen."
Today was a day we’ve been waiting for - such a glorious day. Dad had another full set of scans last week and today his doctor confirmed that he is in remission!!❤️❤️ The look on dads face was amazing. Almost unbelievable. There is a very small “blip” showing up on the MRI still, but it’s smaller than what showed up on the last MRI and likely is scar tissue. He’ll continue the same meds regimen and will have another set of scans in 3 months. We are so blessed!
Thank you, thank you, thank you all for such love and support this past year!
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