Keith is recovering from the surgery at Kaiser Sunset - everything went smoothly. Based on the preliminary assessment, we have confirmed the tumor as a high grade "glioma".
The team spent 6 1/2 hours working through the biopsy. They were able to get us 6 samples, 5 of which are in pathology for analysis. We had hoped to get a somewhat larger "chunk" for genetic assessment (at UCLA) - that was not possible - but we have sent the 6th (largest) sample to UCLA in the hope that they will be able to work with it.
The tumor is entirely positioned in Keith's motor area. As a result, they were unable to resect (remove) any of the tissue - so we will be relying on radiation and chemo from here on.
Part of the reason the surgery went so long is that they painstakingly mapped each portion of the tumor to each part of the body it "controls". The objective was to take the small samples from areas which would result in the least noticeable "loss" - i.e. the movement you wouldn't "miss." From that perspective, it appears that we did well. Keith was still able to move his arm and wiggle his fingers right out of the surgery - - the surgeon was visibly pleased. The weakness/loss he has sustained to date, however, probably will not be recovered.
Keith was awake and very alert last night - in some ways more his "old self" than I have seen in the last 3 weeks. His first words were "I'm still alive?" followed later by, "Let the fight begin." The girls are working through it - they are still in tough shape and I am working on some counseling. Like Keith, I feel ready to move on and get into the fight.
He will be in the ICU for the next 24 hours, then on to a regular ward. If all goes smoothly, he will be released in a few days and we expect to start radiation next week or the week after. For those of you who are local, he would welcome calls and visits.
The team spent 6 1/2 hours working through the biopsy. They were able to get us 6 samples, 5 of which are in pathology for analysis. We had hoped to get a somewhat larger "chunk" for genetic assessment (at UCLA) - that was not possible - but we have sent the 6th (largest) sample to UCLA in the hope that they will be able to work with it.
The tumor is entirely positioned in Keith's motor area. As a result, they were unable to resect (remove) any of the tissue - so we will be relying on radiation and chemo from here on.
Part of the reason the surgery went so long is that they painstakingly mapped each portion of the tumor to each part of the body it "controls". The objective was to take the small samples from areas which would result in the least noticeable "loss" - i.e. the movement you wouldn't "miss." From that perspective, it appears that we did well. Keith was still able to move his arm and wiggle his fingers right out of the surgery - - the surgeon was visibly pleased. The weakness/loss he has sustained to date, however, probably will not be recovered.
Keith was awake and very alert last night - in some ways more his "old self" than I have seen in the last 3 weeks. His first words were "I'm still alive?" followed later by, "Let the fight begin." The girls are working through it - they are still in tough shape and I am working on some counseling. Like Keith, I feel ready to move on and get into the fight.
He will be in the ICU for the next 24 hours, then on to a regular ward. If all goes smoothly, he will be released in a few days and we expect to start radiation next week or the week after. For those of you who are local, he would welcome calls and visits.
posted by Keith and Kathy | 9:58 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home