What the Doctor Said

We saw Dennis' doctor today and he explained several possible options for treatment.  He was leaning in one direction but went through the pros and cons of each.  After discussing them with him, we felt his inclination had merits.  The MRI does show progression but it does not appear to be extremely rapid.  Because of this, Dennis and I chose an option that requires him to be free of any medication for 28 days.  He will then enter a trial program that will pair a drug that is standard treatment for recurrent GBM tumors with the trial drug.  He will receive the trial drug one day each week and the standard treatment drug every other week.  These drugs work by starving the blood supply to the tumor.  If Dennis would experience any indication/symptoms of tumor growth during these days off medication, we will revisit this plan and most likely start the standard drug immediately.  Please pray during this time that the tumor does not grow or that God would miraculously intervene and totally remove it.  Wouldn't that be amazing to have the MRI on September 9 show no tumor?!?!?!  He will have an MRI on the 9th and on the 11th he will reach the 28th day off of medication and they can process him into this trial.  Most likely he will start the medication on the following Monday, Sept. 16th.

We are trying to get some vacation time in during this period where Dennis has been feeling pretty good.  We don't know how well he will handle the new medication.  He still tires easily but we plan carefully and are able to do some fun activities.  We were recently in South Dakota for a week and had a great time.  We did a lot of driving around and seeing things but no hiking or overly tiring events.  Here are a few highlights of the trip.

Devil's Tower, Wyoming

We hope to do a weekend camping trip this weekend and get to Chicago another a weekend too before his treatments start again.  We have wanted to take Brooklyn to Chinatown and to Navy Pier.

Please keep praying for us.  Here are some specifics to pray for:

1. No or minimal growth of the tumors while Dennis is off of treatment.
2. That Dennis will easily tolerate the new medications and most importantly, that they will be successful.
3. Brooklyn - she really handled the news that the tumor was growing very hard.  She is doing better after we discussed it and assured her of God's love in all of this.
4. For Dennis and me as we seek God's direction and peace as we walk on this path.