the new plan

it's taken me a few days to get over our news from duke. inside I've been having a little tantrum that I can't seem to get over. but I need to. for everyone's sake.

duke recommended looking into radiation, along with chemotherapy. they called cody's local oncologist and had appointments set up for him the very same day. thanks to cody's sister, we were able to manage a second flight change and we flew back home on Monday. as much as I would have loved to continue "pretending" we were on vacation, we needed to get back home to our kids and our life and figure out the next step.

on tuesday, cody met with the radiation oncologist. it's hard when there are such differing opinions in the medical field.  although mayo clinic did not think radiation would be a good option, the dr. at sanford thought it would be worth a shot. he said we can't have the exact same plan as he did 10 years ago, but felt comfortable providing 18-20 radiation treatments. of course there are risks. there are risks with absolutely everything we do in life. his risk of long term side effects increased from 1-2% (the first time) to 10-15% this time around. but he is also dealing with the diagnosis of glioblastoma, and at this point, we know the outcome if we do not attempt to treat this aggressively. don't get me wrong, this is a hard call. we also want cody to have the best quality of life possible.

so now, all we can do is take the information we've been given and make a decision that feels the best. ultimately, it is cody's decision. I respect that and support him 100%. he has already had a planning ct scan and his radiation mask made. they are currently working on his treatment plan (as working around the optic nerve will require precise planning). the goal was to start treatment on tuesday the 25th. but if tuesday rolls around and the treatment plan isn't perfect, they will delay it until it is. the pharmacy is also working with insurance on getting chemotherapy ordered. he will be taking chemo through an oral pill that he will take at home. if all goes as planned, cody will start chemo at the same time he starts radiation.

a couple of cody's extended family stopped by this afternoon with a gift for him. we thought it was very fitting and it happened to come at the perfect time :)