Cancer

We are back from Texas and not with good news. The doctors there confirmed what Dr. Treves suspected, this is an Ependymoma. The tumor is lying on the floor of the fourth ventrical of the brain stem. It is below the 7th and 8th nerve. That pretty much rules out the shwannoma and makes the Ependymoma the answer. What this means is that it is now critical to get it out. However we will not be able to remove it all due to the fact that it is attached to the brain stem. So,,,,,,,,,after the surgery we will have chemo and possibly radiation. The hard news to tell you is that this is the tumor that carries the highest rate of regrowth in children. I do not have a lot of information about the chemo, I will have to meet an oncologist to find out more. We do know more about the surgery. It will take at least 6 hours and then 24 to 48 in the ICU to see if he can breath on his own. After that he will be in the hospital for about 7 days to rehabilitate. The surgery will leave him dizzy and unbalanced and he will have to learn to walk and stand again. If all goes well that will go away and then when he is home we can start the chemotherapy. I want to tell you that we are still hopeful but I want you to understand how serious this has become. We will go day by day, procedure by procedure and blessing by blessing from now on. Thanks for all you do. We will be adding more posts as we get schedules and information...........Your prayers are our greatest strength.......