Tumor Update
What a whirlwind.
About a week ago I was on the phone with my dad and he lost his train of thought. I told him I was concerned it was a stroke, and asked him to get checked out. Maybe normal for some people, but not him.
Dad called me at work on Tuesday morning and told me he was taking himself to the ER-- he was 'confused' and this concerned him.
I tried to stay calm until we knew what was actually going on.
A couple hours later he called and said they found a tumor.
Then Amy told me that Dad had called our mom and asked to see my sisters.
Steve found tickets for me to fly to CA first thing the next morning.
Dad was transferred to and admitted at a hospital that specializes in neurology. There they told him that it might not actually be a tumor after all.
Amy and Sharon went to see him on Tuesday night. ::hugs::
I arrived Wednesday morning.
Dad's a bit confused and his short-term memory is shot, but it's subtle and very random. That's his only symptom-- no pain, no headache, no nausea, nothing. But his memory loss is startling-- and he didn't even recognize how bad it was.
The MRI was performed this morning, and we were on pins and needles until the internist called this afternoon (from down the hall! forget _bed-side_ manner...) to say she didn't know what was going on, but another doctor would tell us. She didn't say which other doctor or when the consult would be. Then we were aggravated and on pins and needles.
The neurosurgeon showed up around 5 and told us that it is in fact a tumor, most likely benign but it needs to be addressed. The tumor is obstructing fluid in the brain and pressure is building. We have two options for surgery-- risky invasive craniotomy to get most of it out (and biopsy!) or less invasive ventricular shunt to just relieve the symptoms but not the disease. It seems as though the major risk of the shunt is that it might not work and then he'll just need the craniotomy anyway. The surgeon called the craniotomy an 'elegant' solution, and it seems to be his recommendation.
Doc said the tumor has most likely been there and slowly growing Dad's entire life. The tumor's evidently quite large, as it spans two parts of the brain (tomorrow I'll ask which two parts, and how large exactly-- today I was mostly listening).
Tomorrow the surgeon is presenting Dad's case at their morning conference, as this is 'unique and complicated.' He said that the hospital's 10 neurosurgeons will most likely come to a unanimous conclusion on the best treatment, but then we must pick.
The surgeon may have convinced Dad how badly his cognition is impaired because right after the doc left Dad turned to me, admitted he may not be able to make decisions in this state, and asked me as his health care proxy to make the decision for him.
Tomorrow we meet with the surgeon again, then Dad is discharged for the week until his surgery on Friday the 23rd. Doc said that short-term memory loss can be 'devastating' and so for fear of accidentally setting the house on fire with a forgotten lit burner, Dad's to be under constant supervision for the week. Looks like I'll be here for a while.
About a week ago I was on the phone with my dad and he lost his train of thought. I told him I was concerned it was a stroke, and asked him to get checked out. Maybe normal for some people, but not him.
Dad called me at work on Tuesday morning and told me he was taking himself to the ER-- he was 'confused' and this concerned him.
I tried to stay calm until we knew what was actually going on.
A couple hours later he called and said they found a tumor.
Then Amy told me that Dad had called our mom and asked to see my sisters.
Steve found tickets for me to fly to CA first thing the next morning.
Dad was transferred to and admitted at a hospital that specializes in neurology. There they told him that it might not actually be a tumor after all.
Amy and Sharon went to see him on Tuesday night. ::hugs::
I arrived Wednesday morning.
Dad's a bit confused and his short-term memory is shot, but it's subtle and very random. That's his only symptom-- no pain, no headache, no nausea, nothing. But his memory loss is startling-- and he didn't even recognize how bad it was.
The MRI was performed this morning, and we were on pins and needles until the internist called this afternoon (from down the hall! forget _bed-side_ manner...) to say she didn't know what was going on, but another doctor would tell us. She didn't say which other doctor or when the consult would be. Then we were aggravated and on pins and needles.
The neurosurgeon showed up around 5 and told us that it is in fact a tumor, most likely benign but it needs to be addressed. The tumor is obstructing fluid in the brain and pressure is building. We have two options for surgery-- risky invasive craniotomy to get most of it out (and biopsy!) or less invasive ventricular shunt to just relieve the symptoms but not the disease. It seems as though the major risk of the shunt is that it might not work and then he'll just need the craniotomy anyway. The surgeon called the craniotomy an 'elegant' solution, and it seems to be his recommendation.
Doc said the tumor has most likely been there and slowly growing Dad's entire life. The tumor's evidently quite large, as it spans two parts of the brain (tomorrow I'll ask which two parts, and how large exactly-- today I was mostly listening).
Tomorrow the surgeon is presenting Dad's case at their morning conference, as this is 'unique and complicated.' He said that the hospital's 10 neurosurgeons will most likely come to a unanimous conclusion on the best treatment, but then we must pick.
The surgeon may have convinced Dad how badly his cognition is impaired because right after the doc left Dad turned to me, admitted he may not be able to make decisions in this state, and asked me as his health care proxy to make the decision for him.
Tomorrow we meet with the surgeon again, then Dad is discharged for the week until his surgery on Friday the 23rd. Doc said that short-term memory loss can be 'devastating' and so for fear of accidentally setting the house on fire with a forgotten lit burner, Dad's to be under constant supervision for the week. Looks like I'll be here for a while.