My Dad thought it might be interesting to show a picture of the machine that will be used to perform the radiosurgery to the base skull tumor (click on the picture to enlarge it). The Doctors in the forefront are two of his actual Doctors, who, believe it or not are avid golfers as well - sound like a bonding moment?? Too bad they met in the hospital instead of on the golf course! Along with having impressive golf scores, they are also friendly and jovial like my dad. They are at ease with their incredibly technical and precise instruments and imbue confidence that they are going to pull him through this.
Today my dad had the appointment to fit him for the molds that will keep him motionless during the radiation process. Wearing the molds, he had a full body CT scan, and tomorrow he will have a MRI. I misstated the process in my last post as I thought it took 10 days to make the molds, but actually they were made today. The 10 day time frame is to utilize the CT scan and the MRI for determining radiation physics, geometry and quality assurance in order to ensure the treatments are as precise as possible. I hope I got it right this time, but regardless, the bottom line is that the radiation treatment should begin in approximately two weeks.
The Doctors gave the okay for travel to Canada, so we will be honored to have my parents here for Megan's graduation on the 13th (hopefully graduating on Friday the 13th won't be an omen to Megan and her friends!). In addition to this upcoming trip, my parents have had two recent special visitors. They got to spend Sunday with Granddaughter Lauren, who was in town for a friend's wedding, and then on Monday they were visited by Jack's cousin Mary Jo from TX, who was in Virginia visitng her daughter in nearby Charlottesville. They were happy to get to spend time with family and have also been keeping busy with the normal day to day routine as they wait for radiation to start. The many acts of kindness and encouragement they are receiving continue to be a blessing to them -thanks for surrounding them with love and keeping them in your thoughts and prayers.
