Dad had a good appointment with the Verity Radiation Oncologist (started practicing at Presbyterian Dallas in 1992). Thanks for your patience as I, the amateur blogger, and a very non-medical person, try to describe various medical matters. The doctor agreed wholeheartedly with the medical team thus far on the type of tumor. His prognosis is weeks to live with no treatment, months to a year with treatment, best case scenario is a couple years.
The swelling (not necessarily growth) of the tumor is what caused interference with his left motor strip, hence the left arm inactivity of Sunday the 16th.
The doctor today corrected our thinking: the steroids are not shrinking the tumor, but rather, temporarily limiting the swelling around the tumor, and at some point that will be rendered ineffective.
My sister Karen forwarded all MRIs Catscans and hospital reports to a Physician in her area, and he wrote that Dad's medical team in Dallas is on the right track.
Treatment regimen is 3 weeks (fifteen 1-5 minute sessions) and commences Tuesday to give him time to see his brother in Kansas this weekend, and any of our immediate family that would like to see him while he is there.
Initial treatment is "External Beam Radiation", on the whole brain with follow-up MRI in 6 weeks. This is also to target cancers that may be present but not observed on the MRI. This should also cause the 2.5 cm. tumor on the right parietal lobe to shrink. Then depending on his results based on the six week MRI, there will then be (if necessary) focused tumor radiation with cyber/gamma knife/srs.
Side effects appear to be minimal, the first couple weeks, and in the third week some headaches and a lot of fatigue and some skin burns showing up and some hair loss. He said some have very few side effects the first couple weeks. There is always a risk for poor response to some of the initial treatments and his reactions will be closely monitored. It is not always possible to know how a tumor will react to the radiation, but even at the age of 84, they believe he will have a good result. The possibility of a bad reaction to the initial treatments, was also told me Monday evening by my brother-in-law, a surgeon, who is CEO of a hospital of 450 employees in Bahrain. He was in complete agreement with the direction the medical team is steering things.
So based upon everything the doctors know, and this doctor today was adamant (as was the Oncologist), September is very crucial for Dad's well-being. Timing is everything.
As long as Dad is tolerating radiation well, we will do what we can to extend his life. Dr. Nichols said that Dad would probably not die from this tumor but from a subsequent tumor that arises somewhere else in his body.
The doctor today believes Dad's 2001 prostate cancer is primary as far as they can see, and his hormone therapy now needs to be restarted, as his PSA has risen to 4, so another issue we'll need to keep a close watch on.
We may well be blessed with one of the best Radiation Oncology specialists, and center, in the country.
