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.