Surgeon Appointment

We have an appointment Wednesday with the Surgeon at Kirklin Clinic at 10:00...I probably won't have any posts between now and then and Wednesday should tell us about surgery or no surgery and the treatment plan for sure. Just pray and big hugs and lots and lots of love to you.

Happy Friday

We are waiting on another phone call this morning for an appointment with Dr. Markert at Kirklin. David may have surgery as soon as Thursday or Friday. This would be to remove the bulk of the tumor with treatment to follow. We will know for sure after the appointment with Dr. Markert.

Please keep the prayers going.

Thanks to former classmates for the posts and we do remember you!

Again, thank you for the calls, visits and cards.

David, Joy and Emma

Dr. Nabors phone call

David just talked with Dr. Nabors and the path report is relatively the same. He is going to call us tomorrow as they are trying to set up the mag. scan. It wll tell us whether it is worth going in to get some of it out or just proceed with the Chemo pill and radiation. The mag. scan is out patient and only takes an hour. We are sitting on ready to go when they call us back. The scan is done in the basement of the Kirklin Clinic. Wasn't that where Frankenstein's brain was worked on? Anyway, I will keep you posted as we are yet another step closer to taking care of business...Love ya :)

Joy

Kirklin Clinic update

I talked with Dr. Nabors office this afternoon. We will have a final path report from them on Wednesday morning. Then, we will know how to move forward with the treatment. Thanks for the calls, visits, food and emails.

Thank you to Alan Turner and Chad Stearns for keeping my yard up for me.

Keep us in your prayers as we will have some decisions to make in the next few days.

Big hugs and Lots of Love to you............

Joy

Friday

Good morning and Happy Friday to you. David had a seizure late in the afternoon on Thursday. He over did it yesterday but told me that's the way he wanted it.

Thanks again for everything that you are doing for us.

I've heard from several of our high school classmates that I haven't heard from in years. I really appreciate that!

May God Bless you today,
David, Joy and Emma.

Good morning.

Thank you Cathy Brown and Chris Brown for this site. You are doing a great job. Thanks Dad and Deborah for everything yesterday, as you being there and driving us is making it easier on us..Love you........My dad loaned me some Gaither dvd's to watch and I really love the old hymns....The first song that I heard this morning sums up my feelings and I wanted to share the chorus with you.......


God put a rainbow in the cloud......God put a rainbow in the cloud.....When it looked like the sun wouldn't shine anymore................God put a rainbow in the cloud.

Update from UAB

(This update is being written by Cathy Brown at Joy's request)

David had his initial appointment with Dr Keith Thompson at the Montgomery Cancer Center yesterday to get established with him. Dr Thompson said that they would be happy to do his radiation and chemo locally, and would await the recommendations from UAB.

David had his consultation with Dr Nabor at UAB this morning. Dr Nabor reviewed his biopsy slides from Baptist and is hopeful that his tumor may not be a grade 3 and grade 4 as previously thought. He is hopeful that it may be a lower grade astrocytoma. He also reviewed his MRI/MRA films and is hopeful that they may be able to remove at least part of the tumor and then treat the rest with radiation and chemo to slow down the growth (still probably not a cure). He will present David's case to the "Tumor Board" on Tuesday July 28th and then contact him with the treatment recommendations. The Tumor Board includes Dr Nabor and a team of surgeons who will make the final recommendations about the risk of surgery ect.

David and Joy are being cautiously optimistic because if Dr Nabor is correct, and the post surgery biopsy confirms this, David's prognosis could be extended. David has been instructed to hold off on any chemo or radiation for now and they should hear from Dr Nabor at UAB next week. God is clearly at work here and everyone's prayers continue to be coveted!

Also, thanks to the McWhorter Sunday School Class & Gaylynn Brooks, David and Joy will return to a very clean house today! If anyone would like to contribute to future cleanings, please see myself or Alan & Dara Turner. David continues to be tired and can't tolerate loud noise or large crowds, but is doing well and not having any headaches yet. They are worn out today, but later in the week short morning vistis will be fine. God is good ALL the time!

In His Love, Cathy

Happy Monday!

Thank you again for the calls, emails, and posts...They mean a lot to us. We will be going to Birmingham on Wednesday and DDD (Designated Daddy Driver) is going with us. Please be in prayer for safe travel. We love you and have a great day. :)

Appointments

Good morning and Happy Friday. I want to send a big hug and thanks to Judge Beth Kellum, Ashley White, Lisa Gunter and J.D. Lloyd. You are the best. It was a pleasure working with you and everyone at the Court of Criminal Appeals. Hello to everyone in the Judicial building I miss you already!

We have several appointments next week...We go to the cancer center on Tuesday and should be going to UAB on Thursday...I will know for sure this morning about UAB.

David is doing great. We love you and keep praying for us for strength and guidance.

Hill Happenings

Good morning and May God Bless you today. I talked with Amy from Dr. Kendrick's office last night and we might have an appointment to go to UAB by next Thursday. We should know for sure this morning. Thank you...... thank you for the posts...It means so much to us and I'm hearing from some of you that I haven't seen or talked to in a while. We had several people that stopped by yesterday to just pray with us. That is keeping us strong. The nurse was in awe that David hasn't taken a pain pill nor is he having any headaches. Praise God for that! We love you, hugs to you, and Happy Thursday to you. I sure hope it's it Thursday as I have lost track of time and dates. We had to go to the Attorney's office for some things last week and the first thing that he said to us was, "David, I have no doubt that Angels will be crossing your path." We've had them and many. Amy, if you see this, what a blessing and comfort you have been to us. :) Joy

What's on my mind this morning.

I woke up before the chickens this morning and had this on my mind to share with you. It's 5:25 so apologies to my English and Typing teachers. David and I just celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary and our awesome daughter turned 17 Monday...We have so much to be thankful for. We met 29 years ago, (thanks Willie), on the campus of Wetumpka High School. He has been my best friend from that time on. He has been incredible these past two weeks. . If you didn't know it already, when he was informed of his condition and the room cleared, he simply looked at me and said "God must have a plan for me and really is using me." Of course, I told him "WE." He hasn't asked once why, or even expressed anger. In fact, yesterday he told the nurse, "leave it me to have two." He went on further to say "at least it's not four four's." What an awesome man. He truly is one of the bravest, strongest men that I've known. Both of us had a peace about us yesterday and it truly was God carrying us and that was from the prayers that each and every one of you sent out. I'm grateful. When I walked out to tell my Dad and Dennis yesterday I had a strength that I didn't know that I could have. God is in control and I know there's only one set of footprints right now. Thank you for the posts, emails and calls...I've passed them all on to him. Thank you to the men's class for what you did...Keep praying for us as that is such a gift ...Big hugs and lots of love to you this morning....David, Joy and Emma.

Final Biopsy Results

David went back to the surgeon today. He got his staples out and his wound looks good. Unfortunately, the biopsy shows one tumor with both Grade 3 Astrocytoma and Grade 4 Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) cells. (The Astrocytoma progresses into the GBM so it is really one type of cancer but the cells are in two stages) The treatment for this type of brain tumor is chemo and radiation, however neither treatment is a "cure". The hope is to slow down the growth of the tumor, but it is a terminal diagnosis. They have been given a prognosis for a possible length of time that they can expect, but David does not want to tell anyone what it is as he does not want to focus on that and they ask that no one ask them. He is still going to see Dr Nabors at UAB for a second opinion and expects to have his treatments at the Montgomery Cancer Center. They are awaiting word on that appointment date and time.

Needs:
#1 PRAYER for ALL the Hills
#2 short visits with 1-2 people at a time but not more than 5-10 minutes at a time and morning time is best ie 8 am - 12 noon because he gets so tired and the overstimulation causes him to have seizures.
#3 food is ok right now but would appreciate more at the first of the month
#4 Contributions for house cleaning by Gaylynn can be made to Alan or Dara Turner or Cathy Brown
#5 Help spread the word about #2 needing to be very short visits as not everyone uses internet

Joy asked me to post this information for her as this is a difficult day for them and alot to process. I would be glad to answer any questions if I can. In His Love, Cathy Brown

Visitors and Doctors

Re visitors: We have figured out that David's seizures may be triggered or aggravated by loud noises and sensor stimulation ie too many people or too much talking or loud TV. He enjoys short quiet visits with only a few people at one time. If the driveway gate is closed, it is not a good time to visit.

Re Doctors: We go back to the surgeon on Tues 7/14 to get staples out and get final biopsy results. We will then see the specialist at UAB shortly after that. Appointments are already being made for us. We will be sure to update everyone when we know more about the diagnosis and plan of treatment.

Fri 7/10/09 NEEDS

David had another small seizure this morning and is tired but doing OK. The doctors increased his seizure medicine so hopefully that will control them better. Joy and David would still prefer no visitors for now, but appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Things they DO need are:

Neighbors keeping the grass cut (The Turners & Johnsons cut it today )

Help with keeping the house clean. If you would like to donate some money to Cathy Brown or Alan Turner, we are taking contributions to pay Gaylynn Brooks to clean the house every other week.

Doing well on food right now, may be ready for some more around the end of July. That is a big help as well!

Cathy Brown

Another seizure

On the evening of Thursday July 9th, David had a very small and brief seizure while at home. It only lasted 30 seconds and was thought to be post-op related from his biopsy. Everyone is fine and awaiting further instructions from the doctors.

The Diagnosis

On Monday June 29, 2009 David had a seizure. By the time he arrived at the hospital, his symptoms had resolved but a CAT scan and MRI showed a tumor the size of a golf ball in the left side of his brain. This area of the brain controls speech, motor skills and controls the right side of the body. Because he was on blood thinners for his heart, the biopsy had to be delayed for a week so he could stop his blood thinners. In order to be sure that was safe to do from the heart standpoint, he had a heart cath that showed he had a new 95% blockage of one of his arteries. That was reopened with a balloon procedure. Following that, it was relatively safe to stop his blood thinners for surgery. On Wednesday July 8, 2009 he had his biopsy and now we are awaiting those final results so we can get a treatment plan started once he is healed up from the biopsy. Preliminary results confirm that the tumor is a malignancy but we have to wait for the final results to know exactly what kind of cancer, as treatment recommendations will depend on that. There are many different kinds of brain tumors and they each respond differently to various radiation and chemo treatments so we have to wait for the final biopsy results. David and Joy are making arrangements to go to UAB for an evaluation there as soon as the final results are in. UAB can arrange for his treatments to be done at the Montgomery Cancer Center. We are going through a wide range of emotions and have many questions and concerns, however we know that God is in control and we can feel his arms around us each and every day.

Creation of blog site

This blog site is being created to help keep the friends and family of David up to date on his latest condition and the needs of his family. David and his family greatly appreciate all of the love and support they are receiving from their community, however this is an emotionally difficult time and it will be easier for them to have a central place to report changes in status and information as it comes in. Please feel free to leave comments for them. Most of all, they covet your prayers!