Challenges

This was another rough week for the Daniel family and in particular for my Dad. Monday's procedure started with another MRI, which surprisingly showed two more spots - and this time one of them appears to be in his brain. The other one is around his cheek area. It had only been two weeks since his last MRI, so we were stunned. It doesn't matter how many times we tell ourselves on an intellectual level, that we know that cancer is unpredictable, it still slams us hard when we hear more bad news.
The actual gamma knife procedure on Monday turned out to be much longer than the anticipated 4 hours as it took a long time for the planning of the procedure to be done after the MRI, and in the meantime an emergency patient was slipped in before my Dad. So, he was at the Radiosurgery Center from about 6:00 am until after
8 p.m. He wasn't able to eat all day and was feeling weak and worn out by the time they finally arrived home. However, he perked back up on Tuesday, and off they went for the fitting for his frame for the lung radiation procedure. On Thursday, he had his first radiation to the two spots on his right lung - we were happy to hear that they will be able to radiate both spots at the same time after all. Now, instead of six trips for the lung radiation, it will only be three.
In addition to all this, next week he will have another CT scan to check a suspicious spot on his left lung that they wanted to watch. Then sometime in the next few days, a plan of action on how to treat the two new spots will be made (probably more gamma knife) and some careful thought and decisions on the next course of overall treatment will also be considered. Please pray for my Dad's strength, and that we are headed in the right direction for determining the next steps. Honestly, it's been a bit discouraging that the cancer has been so aggressive lately, and its obviously time to consider some other treatment options. We appreciate everyone's care and concern for not only my Dad, but for the whole family as well. It's been a tough week...

Here we go again ~

It's the eve of May 18th and tomorrow is the next scheduled radiation treatment. This one is another gamma knife procedure, aimed at attacking the new extension of the original tumor. The procedure takes at least 4 hours from start to finish, and my Dad will be tired afterwards. Please pray with us that they are able to really get in there and put this tumor down once and for all!
The trip to Phoenix was great! My Dad did well with the traveling and both my parents enjoyed being back in Phoenix. They have a profound love for Phoenix and they had a good time re-visiting a lot of their old haunts. The highlight of the trip was a mini family reunion with my Dad's two brothers and almost all of their families - we were about 30 in total. My cousin Donny and his wife Erica graciously opened their home to all of us and we had a great time catching up, eating and most of all laughing together! My Dad took a few moments as the family patriarch to address everyone and to remind us all to seize the moment and take advantage of all of life's opportunities. He has definitely modeled that for all of us, and he also wanted to remind everyone of how much he loves his family and is proud of each and every one of us -- besides being a family with a great sense of humor, we are also a bunch of saps, so there wasn't a dry eye in the house as we all reaffirmed our love for each other and my Dad. Thank you, Donny and Erica, for making our "reunionette" possible.
We also got a chance to visit with Marsh Tremble, my parents very good friend and best man at their wedding. That was pretty cool since it was a trip to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary! We drove by the first house they lived in together, old high schools, places of work, my dad's paper route etc.. - it was a real trip down memory lane!
Well, just wanted to give everyone a quick up date -
lovingly, Tami and family

A few Updates

Hi all - thanks for checking in again with us.....I wanted to give you an update on some things. A few weeks ago, we had thought that the original skull tumor was completely dead and it wasn't expected to give my Dad any more problems. As we've mentioned before, cancer has a mind of its own that can totally knock you off course, and that seems to have happened yet again. This week my Dad found out that the original tumor has developed a new extension that has moved back over toward his left eye. We are discouraged that all of the cells associated with it just don't seem to get radiated. Kidney cancer is very resilient....but so are we. Along with the radiation that my dad will be getting to his lungs over the next few months, he will also receive a gamma knife treatment to that original skull tumor. Please pray with us that they will finally get all those microscopic cells zapped and that there will be no more expansion of that tumor.
Please also pray for my mom and dad's spirits and strength as they continue on with this journey. They are both quite tired as they have had numerous appointments to attend over the past two weeks. Recently added to the already busy schedule is daily massage therapy for the swelling around my dad's left eye. Every day for about an hour he has a massage and then his head is wrapped with a compression bandage to try and help reduce the swelling. They have seen some minor improvement, but perhaps the reason they haven't experienced more improvement is that unbeknown to us, the tumor had actually been growing. Nevertheless, I think the massages are relaxing and they have developed a nice friendship with the woman who is doing them. They have to drive over to Newport News (about a 30-40 min drive each way from Williamsburg) for these appointments as well as needing to be other places for various other appointments, so they have had an exhausting few weeks.
The other night, my Dad attended a dinner for a golf tournament that he has participated in for the last few years, but was unable to do so this year. While there, he received a standing ovation from his friends and fellow golfers and it was just really nice that they honored him like that - so thank you to all of my Dad's golf buddies who care so much for him and make him feel so special!
The doctors have given their okay for my parents to continue on with their travel plans to Phoenix for this coming Friday, and so they are looking forward to heading west and to visiting with my Dad's two brothers and their families. This will be a nice break before all of the radiation treatments start up again.
The latter part of May, and all of June and July look like they will continue to be very busy times. My sisters and I are going to try and get down and help out as much as we can....but if there is anyone in the Williamsburg area who can also check in with my parents to see if they need any assistance, my siblings and I would be very grateful!!! Thank you all for your support and kindness --- Tami and family