Immediate Surgery - December 22, 2009

Monday, December 21 - Pete's second round of chemo treatments were to resume this morning, so we were in the oncologists' office at 9 AM. Before they began, we met with one of the doctors, Dr. G, so she could share the findings of Friday's MRI report with us.

It seemed the "irregularities" were not just some minor irregularities. It was a spot located in the upper back, left side of his brain. She explained that this region contains the vision component and the headaches and what we thought were "optic" migraines were most likely the result of this mass pressing on the brain causing seizures. She spent quite some time explaining, examining, asking questions, but the recommendation was that we see a neurosurgeon as soon as possible.

When she finished, Pete went into the chemo "suite" and they started him off with IV fluids as normal. The nurse was on the phone and suddenly spoke to Pete. "You've got an appointment with the neurosurgeon. He wants to see you as soon as possible, and he wants you to bring the MRI films so he can look at them." I thought things were moving quickly before. Now they were moving at lightning speed.

This presents a bit of a dilemma. Here's Pete, hooked up to an IV, about to begin the chemo treatment that lasts 8 hrs. The MRI films are at the hospital 30 minutes away. The neurosurgeon's office is around the corner from the oncologist's office where we sit right now. Pete and I are discussing the logistics of getting the films up to the surgeon, when the doctors (oncologists & neurosurgeon) make the decision to not proceed with the chemo and get us on our way to the neurosurgeon.

We get in the car and plan on heading south to pick up the films, and then come back to the surgeon. We're not 2 minutes in the car when my son gets a call from the neurosurgeon. He will need the actual films eventually, but he can view the images online, so come right over to his office.

Considering Pete was an unexpected addition to the doctor's appointment schedule, we only waited about 1/2 hour before we were called into his office. Dr. E asked a series of questions, did a series of manual tests and some physical examination, and then called both of us over to see the MRI images on his computer. The white, quarter-sized spot was clearly visible against the dark background of the brain.

I can't even begin to remember all he said, but he was clear, confident and efficient. When we finished, we were taken to his scheduling assistant. She called in prescriptions for anti-seizure meds and pain meds because he believed that the "optic" migraines were not that at all, but actually seizures triggered by the mass in his brain. She also scheduled a sterotopic MRI (also known as “stealth” or "3D") and pre-op testing for Tuesday, moved one of his surgeries scheduled for Wednesday to a later date and put Pete in that slot.

So here's the plan. Today, Tuesday, December 22: Sometime today we pick up his MRI films shot on Friday. We go up to Monmouth Medical Center (where Dr. W-2 will be performing the surgery) around 9 AM to register for the 3D MRI scheduled for 10 AM, and then head to pre-admission testing. Brain surgery is scheduled for 7:30 AM, Wednesday, December 23.

The hospital stay should be 2-4 days so he could be coming home as early as Christmas day.

It will all go very well. It has to.