July 4th 2005:
We had spent the weekend camping with friends. After we were home, Cody mentioned to me that he was having dizzy spells. He had been having them for approximately the last 6 months and they would come about 2-3 times a day. But this was the first I was hearing about it. His dizzy spells would only last a few seconds; however, his arm and leg would go numb on the left side of his body.
Clearly I was not comfortable with what Cody had shared with me. I immediately made him an appointment with our family doctor who immediately sent him to get a CT scan and an MRI.
July 7th:
Cody was diagnosed with a right frontal lobe brain tumor, measuring the size of a baseball.
This turned our world upside down and sent our lives straight into a whirlwind. We talked with a couple of neuro-surgeons in Sioux Falls who all agreed that Cody needed to have surgery to at least "debulk" his tumor. After much consideration, we decided to have Cody's surgery done in Rochester, MN. We visited and immediately felt comfortable with their Neuro team.
July 22nd:
Cody underwent brain surgery at Saint Mary's Hospital in Rochester. Releasing your fiancé into the hands of complete strangers, who will be removing a piece of his skull and placing their hands directly onto his brain, was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. The surgery lasted 6 1/2 hours and everything appeared to have gone extremely well. The surgeon was able to remove 90% of his tumor and Cody's strength, sensation, and cranial nerve exams remained unchanged from before surgery.
July 23rd:
Cody developed a very high temperature, 104+, and was very impulsive and agitated. He was pulling at and unhooking his IV's, attempting to take off his head bandage, desperately wanting to get out of bed, and he was pretty sure he was ready to go home...even though he was still in the ICU. It was a pretty rough day for those of us who were in the hospital with him. A patient care assistant was required to sit in his room with him on 24 hour supervision, as every attempt was being made not to have to restrain him.
July 24th:
When we got to the hospital that morning, Cody's surgeon caught us at the front desk and said that they were going to have to open Cody back up for another surgery as they had discovered something showing on his follow up MRI and CT scans that was suggestive of a foreign body and was of concern. We were hysterical. This second surgery lasted 1 1/2 hours and we were told that they had removed a cotton ball that had been forgotten from the first surgery. This mistake was huge and had to be reported to the state of Minnesota. Cody stayed in the ICU for a third night and his impulsivity and fevers resolved.
July 25th:
AM: Cody was moved out of the ICU and was doing quite well. We were still waiting for the pathology report.
PM: Pathology report came back revealing a Grade 3 Astrocytoma. We were shocked to hear that Cody had cancer. The dr. gave us the news nobody ever wants to hear...typically people with this diagnosis live 3-5 years.
July 26th:
Neuro-Oncologist met with us to discuss the diagnosis and what the plan would be for upcoming treatment.
July 27th:
Cody was released from the hospital (3 days before his 24th birthday) to come home and recover.
August 2005:
After much consideration and prayer, we decided to check into getting Cody's treatments done in Sioux Falls. We visited with the Oncologist, Chemotherapist, and the Radiologist, and determined that all treatments would be able to be done in Sioux Falls, without having to travel to Rochester. Treatment would consist of Radiation for 30 days along with Chemotherapy.
Because part of Cody's leftover tumor was located right between his eyes, it was difficult for conventional radiation to work around the optical nerves. There is something called Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) that allows the radiation beams to be very precisely planned so that they can bend and curve around things such as these nerves.
August 29th:
Cody began radiation and chemotherapy. The chemo was through an oral pill called Temodar. Cody was on a low dose of chemo, as he was taking it the entire 6 weeks of radiation.
October 10th:
Cody finished radiation and his first round of chemo.
November 14th:
Cody's second round of chemo with an increased dose.
Chemo schedule was 5 days of pills and 23 days off for 6 months. He saw his Oncologist once a month (each cycle) and had an MRI done every two months.
During his treatments, Cody was very tired/slept a lot but was only slightly nauseous at times. Otherwise he was blessed with good health. He was so strong and his spirits and attitude never faltered. I am still so proud of him!
The present:
Cody has continued to do MRI's, every 3 months, then every 6 months, and has just recently gone to yearly. His scans continue to look good, showing no new tumor growth. His oncologist told us that there are no real guidelines to follow at this time, because there is not a lot of research done at the 10 year mark....because typically people do not survive to this point. Cody is a walking miracle. Our God has been an awesome God!
***UPDATE***
Unfortunately, Cody's cancer has returned. If you would like to read our story as our journey begins again, follow the links below. From there, you would have to follow the blog archive on the right margin of the page to continue following the posts up until present time.
May 2015
Starting the journey again
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