Curve Ball???

Did we say we had a curve ball thrown at us? Ha! The pitcher was just warming up. We didn't even have time to get out of the way of the next ball. Never even had a chance to put our batting helmets on. Hit by the damn ball. Right upside the head. It's gonna leave a mark, I'll tell ya, it is.

Since returning from our very uneventful trip to Texas last week, E. has had several episodes of being "off." Driving was the biggest issue. His passengers voiced their concerns ... he was in the bike lane, he missed the turn, he cut people off. He got lost. Once, twice, three times. Familiar routes, routes that he should have known, routes that he's driven a hundred times. He attributed it to some new prescription glasses he needed to get used to, or possibly an inner ear infection, or maybe even a sinus infection. In hindsight, there were a couple of other red flags ... forgetfulness, confusion, not staying with the conversation (I seriously thought he was just being a butthead). There were also a few headaches, a couple of which were incapacitating.

After getting lost yet again Friday evening, I knew something was wrong and I was scared. When I told him that something wasn't right and he replied with "I think you may be right," the fear spilled down my cheeks in tears. It took some coercing (and more tears) before we finally made it to the emergency room. Once there, it was hours of waiting, followed by a CT scan, followed by more hours of waiting.

Eventually, this is what we found out ...

There are two tumors/masses/lesions (all these terms have been used by the doctors). They are quite large. One is approximately 4 cm and is in the right front temporal lobe. The other is approximately 3 cm and is in the right rear area (forgot what part of the brain he said). There is some hemorrhaging (bleeding) and some swelling of the brain.

There is concern that the symptoms came on so quickly. This could mean that the tumors are quick growing. If you're like us, you're thinking, "How can this be? How can this happen when he just had a clean PET/CT scan about a month ago?" At 3:00 a.m., I e-mailed the thoracic surgeon at MD Anderson ... at 4:44 a.m. he responded. Several hours later, I received a phone call from his physician's assistant. All this on a Saturday. Impressive. Anyways, as it turns out a PET/CT isn't real definitive for the head/skull/brain area. If E. had presented with any of these symptoms while we were in Texas or if there were any other red flags, an MRI would have been ordered right then and there. But, all was fine. E. looked and acted healthy. There didn't appear to be any reason to do any further scans.

It is assumed that E.'s esophageal cancer has metastasized to the brain. There is a possibility that it is a new primary brain cancer. There are also a couple of other less serious possibilities, which would certainly be welcome at this point. They won't know for sure until they actually get in the brain and remove the tumors.

The tumors are pushing on the brain. As E. says, there's not a lot of room in there with the size of his massive brain as it is, so things are definitely squishy in there. There is some swelling. There is some bleeding. All of that causes the symptoms we are seeing. E. was started on some IV steroids to help with the swelling and bleeding. He was then admitted to ICU for observation, for a night of sleep and relaxation (not!). The neuro surgeon explained to us that the tumors definitely needed to be removed. It is not a surgery that needs to be done in the next five minutes, but it will need to be done soon. As the tumors grow, they will only create more havoc in E.'s life. There will probably be more chemotherapy in E.'s life, and probably more radiation as well.

Unfortunately, the CT doesn't offer a ton of information. Additional information is needed to know more about what we're dealing with and to figure out a game plan. So, an MRI was ordered (and just completed moments ago). E.'s been transferred to a regular room (yay!) and is still getting IV steroids. The neuro surgeon won't be back until tomorrow morning, so that is when we'll get the MRI results and know more.

Told ya it was a stinger.

P.S. Feel free to e-mail or text. Phone calls are often tough to answer in the hospital with nurses and doctors in and out, but we will do our best to return calls too.

Another P.S. E. wants you all to know that he is no longer on the road.