Victories, One at a Time

Greetings Family and Friends:

Thank you for your concerns and continued prayers. Prayers have been answered thus far because the neurosurgeon was able to get the tumor out successfully with no damage. His eyes are a little "shaky" and his neck and head are a little sore but that is expected and improves with time.

Cody is doing amazingly well...however, we have a long road ahead...so we are counting our victories, one at a time.

The Oncologist called tonight to give us a final determination of the pathology report. He has a brain cancer called medullobastoma. (they previously thought it would be ependymoma) Survival rate is higher ( 70 - 80%) which is a good thing, but the treatment is harsher as it is a faster growing cancer. They now want to do chemo and radiation. We will meet with the Radiologist for consultation and Oncologist to review the pathology report and look at our options tomorrow after the meeting.

Even though the MRI came out clean (huge blessing), on Monday, Cody will have a spinal tap done to determine if there are any cancerous cells in the fluid in his spine. (if there are no cancer cells, the treatment would not be as harsh and reoccurrence chances go way down). So our prayer would be that there are no cancer cells there. Our appt. is at 11:00 Monday morning 11/14.

Cody's spirits are great and he is getting stronger with each day. He had an exceptional first day home..ate well and managed not to get too bored. He even had a couple of buddies come to visit and play some games.

The staff at CHOC Hospital, Cody's school, church, family and friends have been phenomenal. The children at church and school have all written him cards, which he was excited to receive. He has received many cards and gifts from many people and it has also been uplifting for him. Along with your prayers, I am sure this has helped with his great disposition through this. So thank you all for everything.

Please pray for continued peace for the three of us and the cancer cells are not in his spine.

Thank you and Blessings,

Dave, Dallas and Cody