Soooooo, unfortunately we met an actual brain surgeon

We have been at Mayo more than usual lately because Mike has been dealing with debilitating right side neck & shoulder pain with headaches including a few migraines. When his oncologist noticed swelling in his neck he got nervous and ordered an MRI of his neck and spine to make sure it’s not cancer related. That MRI was done October 10th and thankfully it’s not cancer related. However, it’s also not spinal cord related so he suggested a facet injection, and if that doesn’t help he will meet with the pain clinic. On Thursday Nov. 3rd, Mike had 3 Facet injections into his cervical area with a 3.5 inch needle!😬 Later that day he had blood work and a brain MRI. Thankfully his liver enzymes have stayed perfect, but his monocytes and lymphocytes were very low. Although, Dr. Molina wasn’t overly concerned about that.

Friday morning we met with Dr. Molina to discuss the results of the brain MRI, which unfortunately showed some progression even with the increased dosage of Selpercatanib. 😩 In total Mike has 6 small brain lesions/METS ranging in size from 2mm to 9mm. Dr. Molina wanted us to consult with a neurosurgeon, so we waited around for a few hours to see if someone could see us. You know how people jokingly say things like “it’s not brain surgery” or “he’s not a brain surgeon” well…… we met an actual brain surgeon and, as you can guess, he’s a really smart guy. He thinks we need to radiate 2 of Mikes lesions now before they get too big and really cause problems.

The plan, as of now, is to go in for pre-op stuff on December 6th, then on December 7th Mike will have Gamma Knife radiation done by Dr. Parnney at 5:30 am. He will have a metal frame helmet screwed onto his head which could cause some eye swelling and bruising but, it has to stay perfectly in place as it has many tiny holes in it where they use very targeted radiation, guided by MRI, to “zap” only the cancerous lesions with minimal collateral damage. Mike will not be fully sedated and will actually get to go home that afternoon so we can get home in time to watch Jackson and his Wartburg Knights team play basketball against Wisconsin Eau Claire online.

We have been on a rollercoaster of emotions as of late which is normal, it’s hard to understand why things like this happen and we don’t see our prayers being answered the way we want them to! We do trust that His plan will make sense one day and we are going to keep the faith and keep believing for a miracle!!!