Dr. Link's meeting

We met with Dr Link this afternoon.  I had a CT scan of chest, abdomen, and pelvis which is all clean.  He showed us more of the slides from yesterday's MRI and these don't look any better.  There are a couple areas where the spinal cord is compressed very significantly.  He also sees tumor growth in the lower rear area of the brain.

There are two alternatives of treatment.  The first is to start radiation right away and hope that it stops the tumor from growing.  The advantage is quicker treatment, the disadvantage is that if the swelling and growth continues, it is a very risky surgery to do later once this area has received radiation.

The second option is to do surgery now (Monday) and then start radiation 3 weeks later.  The surgery would involve cutting the back of the vertebrae off in the two locations with the largest tumor growth.  he would then cut out what he could of the tumor, and repair the lining of the cord with some muscle tissue from my leg, hoping to give the spine more room.  Then finally put the vertebrae back together.  The disadvantage of this plan is if the tumor grows too much before we can start radiation.  Radiation can't be started until the incision is fully healed.

Tonight I had a full head MRI and lumbar spine MRI.  We'll get those results in the morning.

Please pray for us for wisdom in regards to the treatment decision.  We have felt your prayers throughout today and are humbled much by the love and prayers.  Dad Sauder made it up safely tonight.

Love,

Derek & Leann