Today Mike had OT and PT all day until 5:00. So I took the opportunity to take a much needed rest day and just zoned out for a while. I had some books and some Netflix that I desperately needed to get caught up on (I wasn’t crying…or screaming…much).
Yesterday was a mixed bag. Mike had his therapy done by 2:00 so that we could make his follow up appointment with Dr. Engh. Unfortunately, no results yet (dammit), but he did get his stitches out, and we met the radiologist. We knew radiation treatment was going to be “a thing”, but I guess we weren’t expecting to get the lowdown until we got the full pathology. The lowdown is that radiation will be 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week for 6 weeks. Once the pathology results come back from Duke and once Mike’s wounds are fully healed and he’s home from rehab, the neuro-oncology team will schedule imaging so that they can create a mask for Mike’s head. The mask will allow them to target the protons from the x-ray exactly where they need to go for maximum impact. I’m sure I’m woefully butchering Dr. Lawrence’s explanation, but hopefully you get the gist. Side effects from radiation include hair loss and scalp sunburn – I told him we’d get him a few doo-rags to protect his ol’ noggin from the sun.
Tomorrow is therapy until 3:00, and rumor has it that he’s busting out by Saturday! Of course I’ll be sure to confirm that once we hear officially from the case manager.
Mike continues to be in good spirits. He is beyond ready to get home and love on the pups, but he does acknowledge that his time in rehab is necessary and is well spent. Continued prayers for good pathology results are greatly appreciated!