Thank you so much for all the positive thoughts and prayers sent our way. We are so thankful to have so many people caring about our family.
Here is a little back story and update for you if you're interested. My father, Les, is a very active 65 year old. He loves playing golf, traveling and playing bridge. He has a colorful health history with 2 stints in his heart, 2 bouts of bladder cancer, several skin cancer spots removed, almost 50 years of smoking, etc.
About six weeks ago, he started complaining of pain in his neck on the right side. After several days of severe pain, he self diagnosed himself with shingles. He got little sympathy from my mother, who has had them in the past and didn't believe he really had them. About 3 weeks ago after getting back from Palm Springs, my mom shared her concerns that he was sleeping all the time, was very off balance during their rounds of golf, and was having some forgetful moments. She encouraged him into seeing his cardiologist, and he was going for a stress test on the 30th. He did see a GP, but told the dr. he had shingles, and the doctor believed him. No other testing was done.
Last weekend, he began throwing up. The pain in his head/neck never stopped, and he really couldn't walk without hanging on to something. He was adamant about not seeing another dr. until his stress test to rule out his heart. Finally my mom took him to the er on Sunday. They did a CAT scan and diagnosed him with having mini strokes. After being admitted, they did several tests and found his heart/structure was good. The corotid arteries were also okay. The MRI/MRA later revealed that they weren't really strokes, but metastasized tumors. The next morning we found out it wasn't just 3 tumors but multiple. (I counted 12ish). A CAT scan later showed that the primary source is from his lung. (His mother also had lung cancer, although she never smoked.) The tumor there is 4.6 cm x 2.8cm. :( I guess a 1cm spot takes about 200 days to develop, but then doubles in size in that same amount of time. It could have gone undiagnosed for a long time since it wasn't blocking an airway. The spreading was the only indication.
A PET scan revealed another tumor on his spine (the neck pain), in his adrenal gland, a node on his liver and one behind his breast bone.
Radiation of the head/neck will be our main priority. They need to get those under control first. He has completed 2 of the 16 treatments. Then, chemo alone or chemo and radiation will be done on the lung and other areas.
His spirits are okay...he is most concerned with not finding the right words or answers to questions. We are not sure if that will come back yet or not. We are a very faithful family and know everything is ultimately in God's hands. We would appreciate all prayers for an outcome that would allow him to enjoy his life the way he used to. We don't really need anything other than that.
P.S. Please always use sunscreen and don't tan, as melanoma is the 2nd most likely way to have cancer spread to the brain. Get all spots/moles checked NOW. Stop smoking and encourage those around you to stop. Lung cancer is the #1 cause of spreading to the brain.
