Treatment has been chosen

Psalm 77:11-15
"I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds. Your ways, O God, are holy. What god is so great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. With your mighty arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph."

Jason and I know that our God is a strong and faithful God--a God that can perform miracles and a God that does perform miracles. We are asking for our God to perform a miracle for Jason--that he will cure the incurable. We put our faith in our Lord at this time.

Many of you have been wondering what Jason and I have been doing the last few days. Well we have been busy determining what the best course of action is for us at this time. We met with Dr. Kotesha (our radiation oncologist) on Tuesday and he explained to us the radiation process. We felt very comfortable with Dr. Kotesha and he referred us to Dr. Hurtubise for our medical oncologist (he is in charge of chemotherapy). We will meet with Dr. Hurtubise on Monday to discuss chemotherapy that will occur during and after radiation. We have decided that we will stay here in Midland for Jason's radiation and chemotherapy treatments. We feel that this is the best place to be for our family right now--it is the standard therapy that is recommended for Jason's type of cancer.

We talked with a doctor at Duke University at the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center and he stated that we need to first do the radiation and temedor treatment (chemotherapy) before we would come down to meet with them. Jason does not qualify at this time for what they call "up front clinical trials" because he already has begun treatment when the chemo wafers were inserted into the brain during surgery. Before we are able to get into any other clinical trials, Jason will have to first finish radiation.

Jason and I then went to Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit on Wednesday to meet with Dr. Mikkelsen to explore any possible options that we were missing. Dr. Mikkelsen was a great person and Jason and I both felt very comfortable with him. We feel that he is a very optimistic doctor and is looking out for the best in Jason. Dr. Mikkelsen explained to us that we don't qualify for up front trials because of the chemo wafers and he stated that we should stay in Midland for his radiation treatment. He feels there is no reason that we need to be in Detroit for his standard treatment. He will be our back up doctor and work with our Midland doctors throughout the treatment process. 3 weeks after radiation is complete, we will head back to Detroit to discuss clinical trials that are available at that time for Jason.

Probably one of the main questions people want to know is whether or not Jason is a candidate for further surgery to remove the tumor. Unfortunately, Jason is not a candidate for further surgery. The only time they would consider additional surgery would be if they could remove 90% or more of the tumor. Jason's tumor covers much of his left hemishere and it would be detrimental to Jason if they tried to remove the tumor. During the surgery, Dr. Copeland was able to remove approx. 25% of the tumor. Both doctors feel that no more should be removed. We want Jason to be intact mentally and currently he is:) We are greatful for his recovery and how well Jason is doing.

Again, thank you all for your support, love, and prayers. We are doing great and you all have been a great support to us. Blessings to all.