Post Op and Final Diagnosis

Here we are. Day 352. Scott has finally had an awake craniotomy. Part of his brain in the left temporal region was removed. Other parts were biopsied. He only spent three and half days in the hospital. One of those was in Neuro ICU. He came home 10 days ago. He's recovering very well. But with neurosurgery, they usually talk in terms of months and years. Not days and weeks for recovery. This was a huge deal. So big of a deal in fact, the doctors commended him on doing so well, so soon.

We knew we would have to wait for the results. We've been very well prepared to wait. While waiting over the past year, we have increased our collective vocabulary quite a bit.  The newest word we've learned recently is: oligodendroglioma. Repeat after me. Oli-go-dendra-gli-o-ma. It's a super fancy pants medical term for a specific type of brain tumor. This is what Scott has. 352 days from the night he had 2 different seizures: we finally know what caused them for certain.

The good news. 
Of the more than 120 different types of brain tumors that have been identified, oligodendroglioma is one to hope for if you have one. Why? Because it's apparently not as bad as some  other types.  It's not glioblastoma multiforme, one of the deadliest types of brain tumors which has been given so much press lately. We are thankful this was not the outcome of our trial and certainly have much more compassion and understanding for those diagnosed with GBM.This was, originally what doctors thought Scott's tumor could be. 

The bad news. 
Scott has, what is known in layman's term's as "brain cancer." Primary brain tumors are not technically cancer, as we have come to understand cancer. Oligodendrogliomas form in the brain, and remain in the brain. This means,  these tumor cells do not enter the blood stream and travel to other places in the body. Scott's tumor will stay in his brain and not spread anywhere else. (This is technically good news.)

There are many things doctors look at when tumors are found. There is a grading system for brain tumors, similar in some ways to the stages of other cancers. Primary brain tumors are graded in levels of aggression from 1-4. One being the least aggressive and 4 being the most aggressive and fastest growing. Scott's glioma is a grade 3 tumor. If it were a grade 2 or less, surgery might have been enough. But since his tumor is thought to be more aggressive, further treatment is necessary. This means radiation and chemotherapy for him. There is technically no cure for what Scott has.

In a few weeks, Scott will begin the first phase of his treatment. We were told, he will be in treatment in different phases over the next year to year and half. There is a 75% chance his body will tolerate these drugs well. He might not loose his hair, or get sick from the treatments at all. We certainly hope for that.

The hopeful news.
Where we found the most hope today, was in the kind and reassuring words of superb medical staff. 2 doctors told us Scott stands a very good chance of responding favorably to treatment and putting this tumor into remission. The reason is because of specific genetic markers they tested his tumor for.

These days, genetics plays a huge role in how tumors, and cancer in general, are treated. There were 4 markers doctors wanted to see and 1 they didn't. Scott had all 4 of the one's his doctors were hoping he would have, and was negative for the 1 that would make things much worse. This information gave us hope that he will get the treatment he needs, in the just the right way, and his body will do what it needs to do to return Scott to full health.

We know there is no guarantee. We know this is big, heavy stuff we are dealing with and it will no doubt be one of the hardest things we will ever do. But, Scott is just stubborn enough to beat brain cancer and out live us all!

Our kids, after hearing all this news... decided that their Dad should be called "Miracle Man." I couldn't agree more. There is still hope for many more miracles to come. We are not done hunting. Not by a long shot.