Chad's Treatment

I just wanted to post an update and some information regarding the treatment that Chad is undergoing. Chad has been down for about 2 weeks with severe pain. One of the tumors on his liver is pushing out in his back. He actually has a visible bump - not a good sign. We went to his new oncologist, Dr. Frame, who we LOVE. He worked quickly to get Chad's pain under control and develop and action plan. Dr. Frame thought now would be a good time to try out Cyberknife.



We went to Cyberknife (pictured above) earlier this summer for a second opinion. The doctor there, Dr. Reilly, said that Cyberknife would be a great option for Chad when his tumors became symptomatic. So, we called Dr. Reilly up last week to get started. Chad's first session was Wednesday, and he will finish on Friday.

Let me give you some background information so you can appreciate how wonderful this is for Chad. Chad did traditional radiation treatment for two tumors in Dec 2007-Jan 2008. It took 14 sessions and almost 4 months to recover. Traditional radiation tends to treat a larger area rather than just treating the tumor. As a result, the side effects are more severe because the radiation is killing healthy tissue along with the tumor. This treatment was successful for Chad and seemed to keep a couple of the tumors at bay for one year.

Cyberknife is so wonderful because they can focus the beam of radiation to the diameter of a pencil versus the diameter of a large cereal bowl. The treatment from Cyberknife will hit only the tumor and Chad only needs to go in 3 times for treatment. Cyberknife is able to give more radiation in one treatment because it is only hitting the cancerous tissue.

To say it has been a tough year is an understatement. But, good things have come from the trials. We found a wonderful and caring oncologist and already had a connection at Cyberknife. These two things have made the last two weeks almost bearable.

We appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Invoking the hosts of heaven through your faith on our behalf is a great blessing to us and to you. We'll keep you posted on Chad's recovery. Chad loves e-mails while he's down. It helps him to feel connected, so send as many as you like!