More on Thursday, April 1, 2010 - we got to see Kellee at about 2:00. He was (and is) still a bit tired but he is doing great! He told us about having to push against the doctors with his feet, squeeze with his hand, etc to test to make sure he still had all his body functionality. He said that with each test he was able to do, and as he thought about his music recording steps and guitar chords, he thought “yes, I got this!” He had his humor too, he talked about what he had planned to say we he came out of the anesthesia, he was going to say, “I gots dain bramage” but he didn’t do it. He also shared with Tami about his day-dream he had a couple of days ago about just when they were putting him under, he saw on the table next to him a book called “Brain Surgery for Dummies.”
We ordered Kellee some food and he is eating it slowly. At one point this afternoon when Heidi and Tami were out in the hall they ran into Dr. Hanson, well they didn’t actually run into him, they saw him and he talked to them and shared some comforting words. He also said things went well. Heidi asked him about the day he told us about the tumor back on Thursday, March 11; did he actually have any idea about the tumor as to what it was and how bad it could be? He told her that at the time he really thought of two possibilities, one would be good and the other not so good. And he told her “today was a good day for Kellee!” She asked if there was that big of a difference between the two possibilities that they could actually tell just by the initial look at the samples in the O.R. He said yes. So we are very optimistic at this point. However we do realize tests still need to be completed on the tissue and other things could be revealed. But in the mean time we are praising God for a good day!
Update on the rest of Thursday – Kellee has mentioned multiple times that one of the nurse’s in the O.R. before they put him under was so nice and he really appreciated how she made him feel comfortable and ease his nervousness. She told him she had a daughter named Kelly and today he was her son named Kellee. He was so impressed and appreciative of her kind words. As parents we are too! Tami commented to us how big of an impact that must have been as Kellee has talked about it so much.
Kellee’s incision caused him some discomfort and he was given some pain meds for it. The nurses told him if it got to unbearable, morphine might be a possibility because it is better to manage the pain when it was a 4 or 5 out of 10 rather than when it gets to a 9 out of 10. But he made it through without having to use any morphine.A couple doctors from the medical oncology department came by to discuss with us a bit about Kellee’s tumor and some preliminary “possible” treatments. These doctors are the ones who would arrange for any chemotherapy. The doctor said this type of tumor is very rare, he said they see only 3 or 4 of these a year. He said this is the type of tumor they even throw around the word “cure”. He told us with this type of tumor there are some different thoughts on treatment and because the tumor is so rare, there have not been a lot of studies on it. One is for radiation only and the other thought is to begin with a course of chemo to shrink the tumor and then follow it up with radiation. He said he realized we have not yet talked to the radiation oncologist and that they would need to consult as well. He said the radiation oncologist might not want to wait to begin radiation until after a course of chemo. (I thought to myself, I hope he is not jumping the gun to talk about treatment and cure before the final results are even known.) A bit later, Mike, whose house we are staying at in Iowa City and happens to be a pathologist here at U of I (but not an oncology pathologist) came by to visit Kellee and us. We reviewed with him the day and what we had been told. It was good to get his perspective on things as well. He said he would try to look up some studies later for us and would share what he learned.
Kerry and Kory (Kellee’s brothers) came up to see Kellee tonight and got here about 7:40 pm. Kory had one class on Friday he skipped as they were planning to spend the night. (A shout out to Phil here as he is going to watch our pups back in Pella.) They would have been here about 10 minutes earlier if it were not for the faulty directions they were given. I had written out directions for them and told them to turn left on Hawkins instead of right. So the boys toured part of Iowa City and got to see some cool looking older homes. Kellee was glad to see them and touched they would come that far to see him. When his brothers got there, Kellee was the most awake and responsive he had been since he got to his room.
We all left Kellee’s room a little after 8:00 and went to a pizza place Mike had recommended to us. It was called Wig and Pen and we ate outside in their patio area. It was good to sit and talk with Kerry, Kory and Tami. The pizza was pretty good too! We got back to Beth & Mike’s house at 10:00. We sat out on their screened in porch, Mike had printed off a couple of studies which basically confirmed this type of tumor (if the early diagnosis proves correct) is very sensitive to chemo and radiation. We stayed up too late talking and did not get to bed until midnight. Heidi and I want to be at the hospital by 6:30 so we can be there when the doctors make their rounds and possibly hear what they have to say.
