Third Seizure Episode

May 17, 2010 was a very busy day in our lives. Ferrell was at home resting while I was at work getting ready for all of the end of school things I had to do. Little did I know it was also my last day at school for the 09-10 school year. The girls had cheer leading practice getting ready for the spring football jamboree the next week and I had a town hall meeting to attend at their school. We got every one's homework done while we were waiting for the town hall meeting to start at 7. We went to the town hall meeting and then went home afterwards. We got home about 9 or so and got supper which Ferrell had cooked that day(a roast) and then the girls went to bed and I got ready for bed and then was reading/watching tv. At about 12:45 or so Ferrell woke up and was talking to me when we both realized that the left side of his body wasn't working right. He kept trying to do things with his left hand but it wouldn't cooperate with him and the same thing with his left leg and foot. I talked to him for a minute or two when we both realized something was really wrong. He didn't want me to call 911 at first but our talking woke Dayna up and she could see that things were really wrong and we all three agreed it was time to call 911. Dayna called 911 and got them on the line and then handed the phone to me. I told the 911 operator what was going on and she told me that she was sending out help immediately. In the mean time I kept calling Ferrell's name because he would turn his head away from me and zone out. When I called his name he would turn and look at me and smile and say, "I'm still with you." Then in a few seconds he would drift back off. We repeated this scenario multiple times in the less than five minutes before paramedics got there. He was able to talk to the paramedics while they were in our bedroom and the four paramedics decided to take the sheet off our bed and carry him to the gurney in the hallway because it was so difficult to make the turn down the hallway to our room(our walls have the holes and missing paint to prove it). They all four got a corner of the sheet and lifted him over the couch at the end of our bed and out to the hallway onto the stretcher. Once he was on the stretcher they raised it up which was quite noisy but didn't wake up Miranda who was in her room sleeping away. Dayna had shut her door because Miranda had not slept well since the first episode and was finally getting some much needed sleep. The ambulance workers got Ferrell into the ambulance by which time he could no longer control his left side or talk. They told Dayna and I that they were going to take him to Fort Walton Beach Medical Center because he was presenting signs of a stroke. They told us not to try to keep up with them because they were going full out lights and siren. Austin got home from a friends about 1:15 when they were carrying the stretcher out side. He drove up to all the lights and stuff at the house. The ambulance left our yard at 1:30 with Dayna and I right behind them. Before we left we went in to make sure Miranda was still asleep and asked Austin to stay with Miranda so she wouldn't be scared if she woke up. I drove to Ft. Walton which is not ideal because of my eyes but nobody was on the road so I didn't have any trouble. It is the glare of other car lights that give me the most trouble when I am driving. Dayna and I got on the road and she called Rogie and Coy to let them know what was up. It was 2:20 or so when we got to the hospital in Ft. Walton. The ambulance was already gone and the nurse who answered the call button at the window told us that Ferrell was in CAT scan. Over the next 15 minutes or so Rogie and Coy arrived at the hospital. Sometime within the first 30-45 minutes after we got there, the nurse called me to come back to where Ferrell was. As soon as I saw him I knew he had had several clonic tonic(grand mal) seizures and was in the post dictal stage. The nurse told me that an on-call neurologist was going to speak with me and examine Ferrell via a tv screen while I was in there. I didn't know where this doctor was at the time but from the bills it shows he was in Birmingham, Al. The doctor had the nurse sit Ferrell up to about a 60-70 degree angle so he could see him better. Ferrell was unaware of all of this. The doctor introduced himself(don't remember name) and told the nurse to open his eyes, move his arms, use something sharp to poke him in numerous places(with no response to any of it) and then was explaining to me what I already knew that he had had another round of seizures. He was rounding off his conversation when he said, "Hold on, his CAT scan results just came in." He then went on to inform me that Ferrell had a mass and a bleed on the right back part of his brain. Of course this came with mixed emotions because all of the doctors had been telling us it would be better for them to find nothing and it just turn out to be epilepsy but on the other hand it gave us a reason for all the seizures. This was a very scary time for us not knowing what we were dealing with. The neurologist ordered another CAT scan with contrast. In the mean time they told us they were moving Ferrell to the ICU. During this day he was taken for numerous tests including an MRI without contrast and then and MRI with nuclear contrast. About 9 o'clock that night Dr. Manski came by and talked with Ferrell and I and told us what he thought was a very aggressive brain tumor and our three options: one do nothing(no an option), do radiation(not an option because it would just grow back), or to go in and remove the tumor. By this time Ferrell had come out of the post dictal stage and so he and I both decided that surgery was the only option. So Dr. Manski said he would try to schedule it for the next day which was Wed. the 19th. Now to back up a bit, after we knew what was going on with Ferrell as far as the tumor and bleed went, Rogie and Coy left and went by our house to wake Miranda and Austin up and let them know what was going on. They got there about the time Miranda's alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. She was quite surprised that Rogie was standing in her bedroom and knew immediately that something was up. Rogie and Coy drove Miranda to the hospital and Austin followed them in his car. After they dropped off the kids, they went home to get some much needed sleep. They came back late in the afternoon to let me, Miranda(so she could drive), and Dayna to go home and get some sleep so we could be there the next morning for the possible surgery. Rogie stayed in the room with Ferrell that night because he didn't really want to be left alone and we didn't want him left alone. They had him on so many different meds to prevent any further seizures that he was out of it but not able to sleep. The girls and I got back mid-morning the next day. He continued to be taken for different scans and then Dr. Manski came in about 5 p.m. to tell us it would be the next day before they could get an operating room. He again went over our options and we again agreed that surgery was the only option. I stayed with Ferrell that night and we spent most of the night talking about many different things that once again he doesn't remember. The only things he remembers from these days is getting the first MRI and then, the next day he got the nuclear MRI for which they had to sedate him because he couldn't stay in the machine. He kept getting claustrophobic. He vaguely remembers when they did the brain mapping and sticking all the sticky things all over his head and them having to shave his head everywhere one went. He tried to convince the guy to just shave his head because he shaved out spots all around it but the guy wouldn't do it. Ferrell was a bit irritated about this but not too majorly. In the mean time we had a lot of family there to visit him as well as many, many friends who came out to support us such as Craig and Wanda Irlbeck(angels in disguise), Jean Nelson(who stayed the night with the girls in the waiting room so that I could stay with Ferrell in ICU), Bonnie Richardson, and all the people from Gulf Power that Ferrell works with and some he doesn't work directly with. The second night we were there Ferrell found out about all of the people who were there to see him and decided he wanted to see each and everyone of them so we marched them back 3-4 at a time and even 6 at a time. This was all highly unusual for an ICU patient but the nurses didn't say a thing. At some point in all of this our best man, Mark Reeves and James Puckett came back to see him and were cutting up with him. Seeing all these different people really helped keep Ferrell's mind occupied so he didn't have much time to think. After everyone had left for the night except me, the girls, Jean Nelson, and Craig Irlbeck, I went back and stayed the night with Ferrell again. We sat back there with him still not sleeping but a couple of hours, we talked about some of the what ifs and then both decided that wasn't healthy and just talked about how we were going to beat what ever this was. About mid-morning on Thursday, the 20th they came in and started getting Ferrell ready to move to pre-op. They let me stay with him during this whole time and even ride in the elevator with him and them down to pre-op. Once we got to pre-op, we had to get a new iv started which wasn't easy and then the anesthesiologist came and tried to talk to us but it was too noisy and he got ill and basically told several other doctors to shut-up and go somewhere else because he couldn't even hear his patient talking. We ended up getting moved to the recovery room where it was very quiet because everyone is asleep and dopey. Again they let me stay with him this whole time. The anesthesiologist told us that he would have two IVs in and an arterial iv to monitor his every heartbeat during surgery. Finally, Dr. Manski told us it wouldn't be much longer now and in another 15-20 minutes Ferrell's OR nurse(a man) came and told me that they were getting ready to take him back and did I know where the OR waiting room was. I told him no and so he told me he would take me so I told Ferrell I loved him and kissed him bye for the moment and the nurse walked me out to the waiting room. I started to sit down but decided not to and looked at the patient screen they have up and saw that it was 12:45(found out after surgery that they actually started his anesthesia at 12:42 while the nurse was walking me out. I asked Miranda to go with me to the ICU waiting room so I could sleep for 2 hours(they told me the getting ready for surgery would take about that long) so she and I went there and I crashed for the first time in 48 hours for a couple hours. When she woke me up after 2 hours, we went back to the OR waiting room and sat down to wait. Aunt Jan and Brian were there, Uncle George and Aunt Vonnie were there, Rogie and Coy, Ann and Randy, several Gulf Power people where there and in and out, and numerous other people that I will look at the list and add later. About 5:15 everyone decided they wanted something to eat except Aunt Jan, Brian and I. Ann and Randy took the girls to Sonny's to eat and Rogie and crew went to the cafeteria to eat. At 6:10while only the three of us were in there, Dr. Manski came out to speak to us and told the three of us that he had removed all that he could but that the brain tumor was like an octopus with arms that reached into areas he couldn't go into without doing bad irreversible damage. He said that this type of tumor was highly aggressive and we wouldn't know for sure what we were dealing with until the pathology came back hopefully the next day. He did however let us know that it was more than likely cancerous even though he didn't actually use those exact terms. The three of us sat down and made the decision that we would wait until everyone got back to tell them what was going on. Aunt Vonnie came back first and then Uncle George, Rogie and Coy and all the people who ate at the cafe. We went ahead and told them what we knew and Rogie started to get hysterical for about 5 seconds and then just stopped. I told the kids as soon as they got back from Sonny's. Soon after this they let me and Rogie go back with Ferrell in recovery. He looked like himself except he had a bandage around his head and a bloody looking drain out of the top of his head that drained into a small iv bag looking thing. He also had tubes coming out of most everywhere imaginable. He talked to me and his Mom right away and then went to flexing his hands and legs and lifting them up and looking at them. He said he wanted to make sure everything still worked and it all did with no numbness or anything. I stayed with him in recovery until they finally decided to send him back to ICU about 9:30. Rogie had brought all three kids back to see Ferrell in the ICU and then i told him I had to go home and get some sleep. So all three kids and I left and went home. The girls went home with me and went to school in the morning and then Austin and I went back to the hospital mid-morning on Friday. Ferrell was feeling decent but was upset off and on that day. I had requested that nobody talk to him about what we suspected until we knew something concrete. My Dad and my brother Ricky came in that morning and actually beat me to the hospital. Different people were with us on and off that whole day in ICU including LaDawne, Vince and Connie Brown, the above mentioned people and many more that I will add later. Sometime in the early evening Dr. Manski came in to talk to us and started to talk to Ferrell with Ricky in the room. Well Ferrell said hang on my wife needs to be in here so Ricky came and got me and went back with me. Dr. Manski told us that the brain tumor was the most aggressive kind a person can have for a primary brain tumor. He also told us the name was Glioblastoma Multiforme(GBM). Austin walked in about this time so he heard it from the doctor also. Dr. Manski told us that he got all he could but that there were still fingers left behind that would require further treatment. He also told us that this form of brain cancer is incurable and reoccurs. I went out after Dr. Manski left and talked to the girls and thought I had explained it really well but I found out later that Dayna didn't know it was cancer until she over heard me talking to someone on the phone Monday evening. Everyone dealt with it the best way they could. Miranda had a few crying spells, Austin was hugging me and Rogie the whole evening, and Dayna refused to leave the hospital. I sent Rogie home to get some rest along with everyone else except the girls and Bonnie I think who stayed in the waiting room with them. Ferrell had a really down spell that evening and even cried after Dayna came back to see him because he started thinking about not being there to see his kids and grand kids grow up. This lasted a couple of hours and then I got him to start think of the ways we were going to beat this. Next, I stayed up all night along with Ferrell doing research on this form of brain cancer. The statistics were not what I wanted to read so I started researching ways of treating it. By the time morning rolled around I had heard from my SIL Shonda that we needed to go to NY Presbyterian Hospital and to see Dr. Rosenfeld who is a neuro-oncologists and I had come to the same conclusion my self after my research so by the time the local oncologist, Dr. Harvey Chaing, came we already had a plan in mind and talked to him about it. He was very pleased to see that we were well researched and told us he would help us any way he could including calling Dr. Rosenfeld if I needed him to. We couldn't do anything until Monday when the offices opened back up. Whenever Dr. Manski came back that evening he told us we could move to the 4th floor which was the cancer floor and had much more spacious rooms and a couch that made into a bed. This was Saturday the 22nd by now. Ferrell got moved into a room about 9 p.m. or so. Before they moved him the nurses removed his catheter, his arterial iv line, his drain, and one iv line and started another one in his upper arm on the inside. Once Ferrell was settled for the night and had taken something to help him sleep he ordered me to go home and sleep because I had been up all night the night before and that morning researching. So I went home and Rogie stayed with him. We all went back late morning Sunday. As soon as I went up, I saw that he had a room full of company including a guy named Mark Gilligan who has brain cancer on the brain stem and has had whole brain radiation. He had also worked for Gulf Power in a different division. That is all I can write for now. I will write a 2nd part to this in a few days.

Our Continuing Journey

Monday, June 21st was Ferrell and I's 25th anniversary. It was just another day in our life right at the moment although I did buy tickets for the girls, Ferrell and I to go see "Wicked" in a week or so. We have had numerous people tell us this play is awesome. We shall see! Ferrell had a rough day Tuesday with just feeling extremely tired but made it through and just tried to rest as much as possible. I truly think the weather affects this to because it was rainy all day. We saw the doctor today and found out that he will have to wear a hat everyday outside until 2 weeks after radiation is done. He is never to have direct sunlight on his skull again. He can't use sunscreen until that 2 weeks is up because it interferes with the radiation. I had suggested he might should be wearing sunscreen where his scar is. Glad he didn't. Today Dayna went with him and they went there and back in about an hour and 15 minutes. They hit everything perfectly with the buses, subway, and radiation machine. It usually take 4 hours or so. We are all doing fine and counting off the days until we can go home. Doralyn

Chemo and radiation

The chemo started on June 15th without any problems so far. The radiation started on June 16th with a headache the first day and then nausea on the 17th. Ferrell took Zofran for it and it eased up. Pretty certain nausea is from radiation which doctors told us to expect. The daily trip into NYC isn't Ferrell's favorite thing but he know it is necessary. Everyone is very nice at NYP Hospital. The kind of radiation he is getting is called IMRT(a stereotactic radiation). The machine they use is the only one in this part of the country. There aren't many of them in the whole world. We have been very blessed that we are able to come to where the best treatment is for this cancer. Thank goodness for great family and insurance! Ferrell told me today that he holds onto the radiation handle thingys and pushes them like a video game and images killing the cancer cells. They are dying! I will update with the 3rd and final seizure episode sometime very soon. I haven't really wanted to think about that lately but will in the next couple days. Doralyn

New York City

New York City: By Miranda
Dayna and My first flight was on June 11. It was pretty neat. We loved the taking off, but both of us hates landing because it makes your stomache drop. lol. Anyways New York City is so different. THe people here do not have the manners like people in the south. They don't say "excuse me" or "thank you". Most people if you are in their way just run u over. They don't care. Also around here when you here the beeping of a car horn it means the car in front is not going fast enough. In florida if you here a car horn it means that you had better be looking around or you might end up in a wreck. Next, Dayna and I went purse shopping with a great friend of ours. It was so different because you can bargain the prices to what you can afford and the owner will either accept it or say "no" and offer a new price. Also, well we did our purse shopping on canal street, the street had a police raid because half the stores were closed. THe police are always watching that street because the stores sell illegal name branded purses(like coach). They keep the name branded purses hidden unless a person wants to see them. If the police finds out they will shut them down which is what happened the week we went.(No Dayna and I did not buy an illegal purse.) Also Time Square is pretty awesome. The day Dayna and I saw it we saw the tryouts for Dance Your a** off(no i dont cuss but thats the name of the show).One of the days that me and dayna were not there for mom and dad heard that Justin Beiber was in Time Square.(yes he was there but they didnt see him) I love time square, but dad doesn't so we cant go very often but oh well. ALso they have a two story McDonalds, a three story toys r us, a two story m&m store,a and a hershey store. It is so awesome. Anyways we are staying at the crowne plaza in Englewood, New Jersey. All you have to do to be in New York City is cross the George Washington Bridge. It is pretty neat. Also we went and saw Rockefeller Center and yes we went to the top of the rock(or Rockefeller center). We also saw ground zero, but right now they are building a memorial for 9/11. It was so surreal when I saw it because the places I saw on the t.v. I see here. Anyways dad and dayna just left to go to do his radiation and will be back in a little bit. Anyways ill update more later. :)

My Memories from Day 6(May 12, 2010)

So this is a Wednesday and the girls got to come home on bus due to no practice that day. Yeah! We got home and I cooked supper(macaroni and cheese, baked beans and fries). I got my plate after everyone else and went to play on the computer. I sat down and ate about 3 bits when I heard a terrible noise behind me. Ferrell was sitting on couch watching TV. I knew before I looked what I would see and I was right. I jumped up and shouted "Ferrell." I immediately flipped him onto his side but he was still seizing and stiff as a border. Dayna was on our bed behind the couch and came to help me keep Ferrell's face from burying in the couch cushions. I had to physically hold Ferrell half way over because due to the seizing his body wanted to flip all the way over. This seizure lasted about twice as long as the first but wasn't terrifying like the first one. It was just scary. Miranda heard me scream and came to the door to find out if she needed to call 911. I told her yes. Dayna held his head and I held his body by his shoulder so that he could breathe once he quit seizing. Not long after the seizing stopped, the EMTs got there. They flipped him long ways on the couch and used two sheets to carry him to the stretcher in the hallway which was way easier than trying to get the stretcher into our bedroom due to the long hallway. He did not come out of the post dictal stage at all while at home this time. So me and the girls loaded up in the truck and headed for the hospital again. Rogie, Coy, Austin(who was at school)and Laurie met us at the hospital. Once again Sissy Parrish was on the ambulance. We also once again had people from both the county and city respond so tons of cars with sirens blaring. After we got to the hospital they wouldn't let us go back to see Ferrell. We sat in the lobby for about 30 minutes when Sissy came out to tell us that he had another bad seizure as they moved him from the stretcher to the ER bed. That is why they wouldn't let us SO him. She came back out after about an hour had gone by and told us he had had a third bad seizure. Finally after about 1 1/2 hours Rogie just went back anyways and then told me it was fine that I could go back. Ferrell was in the post dictal stage still so wasn't aware of anything or anyone except when they put in a catheter. He was still out of it but he let them know that that just wasn't right. I stayed in the back with him until he came around which was about 5 1/2 hours from first seizure. He doesn't remember anything up until about 2 hours before this first seizure. The doctor started him on dilantin that night(200 mg morning and 200 mg at night). We considered what to do with him for the night but ultimately decided to take him home because this was Wednesday night and he had appointments on Thursday for an EEG and MRI(which to this day we have heard nothing back from). Ferrell went to work on Monday as did I and then on Monday night Gulf Power told him not to report back to work until the doctor cleared him. He and I were both off Wednesday for his appointment with Dr. Pan(a neurologist). He is the one who ordered the two tests. He told us it could have just been a one time episode and couldn't really tell us anything more until tests were complete. He didn't ask to see Ferrell back for 4 weeks. Not overly impressed! Ferrell went bowling Tuesday night, Miranda drove him there and stayed with him. Wednesday he was home all day resting or maybe he went golfing(don't remember for sure) I know he went out to country club Tuesday after dr's appt. for a couple hours. I dropped him off and picked him up. Thursday we went and had the tests done. He and I were both off that day. He didn't go golfing that day because he was still too sore from the three seizures the night before. I went back to work on Friday. I really hated to leave him there but Austin was with him. We had a normal weekend with the girls having cheerleader stunt camp in Panama City Beach. I stayed home because I was exhausted from not sleeping well and to keep Ferrell company. We had a relatively low key weekend although I think we went to Rogie and Coy's for supper Sunday evening. I got up and went to work on Monday just like usual and went to Rocky Bayou Christian School(our kids school although Austin graduated 2 years ago). The girls stayed after for cheer practice getting ready for the spring football game. Then we stayed for the Town Hall meeting at school. We got home about 9:30. The girls and I went home and then I will tell the rest in the next post.

My Memories from Day 1(May 6, 2010)

This is my perspective on what all has happened up until now. May 6, 2010 Ferrell came in, from golfing until dark, about 9:00 p.m. The girls and I were finishing up Survivor when he got there. Then we started a CSI: NY episode. It had been on for about 3 minutes or less when Ferrell stuck his arms straight up and then clenched them to his chest. Miranda and Dayna were sitting on our couch at the foot of our bed and Miranda said, "Stop Dad! That's not funny!" He didn't stop so I reached over and shook him and said, "Ferrell, stop you are scaring the girls." When I touched him I knew something was bad wrong. At this point, Miranda says I went from sewing her Jr./Sr. Banquet dress with my back to Ferrell to the other side of our king size bed in one movement. I have no memory of that. I only remember telling him to breathe because he wasn't breathing. I was screaming at him to breathe because I couldn't live without him. I remember thinking he had grabbed his chest so he must be having a heart attack. In a very few seconds, Miranda was on the phone with 911 screaming that her Dad was dying and we needed help. The 911 operator told her to calm down and give them the address. She finally quit screaming long enough to give them our address twice. In the meantime, Dayna and I were both doing CPR on Ferrell. I sent Dayna to kitchen for Dayna to get a spoon to get Ferrell's mouth open so he could breathe. She came back and pried his mouth open(which resulted in a cut gum and two chipped teeth). We were still doing CPR(Ferrell told me later you should always check for a pulse. Oh well! I was going by 25 year old CPR lessons.) Miranda ran back to my Mom's room and turned her light on and screamed that she needed to pray for Daddy because he was dying. Paul said, "Turn that light out!" While Dayna and I were doing CPR Ferrell began making a noise like a horse whinnying trying to breathe. At some point, it registered with me that he was seizing because he was also frothing. I still did CPR but got him turned about half way over. Three minutes into this, the first people arrived which were 2 Crestview city police officers. They immediately turned him completely on his side and he started snoring instantly. Then we had paramedics from the city and the county in our room. I had one moment that lasted about 2-3 seconds where I started to freak out but I stopped it immediately as soon as it started. We ended up with about ten or twelve cars/trucks in our yard. I later found out that they didn't know if we were city or county. They got Ferrell in the ambulance where Ferrell started to come back to himself in route to Crestview Hospital. He recognized Sissy Parrish and asked what she was doing in his bedroom. Oh yeah, on the way out of the bedroom, they had to restrain Ferrell because he was fighting so bad. He was grabbing the door faces and anything he could get his hands on. He said that when he came to in the ambulance he felt like a mummy because they had him so taped down. He wouldn't believe Sissy that he had, had a seizure so I had to get up in the ambulance and talk to him. He believed me but still was in the post dictal stage and was very fuzzy. He remembered everything up until the moment the seizure started and then remembers everything about 30-45 minutes afterwards. We stayed in the hospital overnight that time to watch him. They were just going to send him home an hour or so after the seizure. It didn't do us any good to stay the night though because they did absolutely nothing for him except give him some Ativan in the ER. Things went along fairly smoothly after this. Miranda, Dayna, and I stayed home from work and school on Friday the 7th. Austin was out with friends the night it happened so he missed it all except coming to the hospital after Ferrell was there. Miranda and I stayed with Ferrell until his Mom came and relieved us for a few hours to get some sleep. Ferrell, the girls and I all went back to work/school on Monday. Ferrell didn't do anything at work that day but fill out paperwork for the Family Medical Leave Act and sit around. The rest of us had as normal a day as possible. Ferrell went to see Dr. Pan Tuesday and was told it could have just been a freak accident and might never reoccur. No medication was prescribed but an EEG and MRI were scheduled for Thursday. Ferrell was told Tuesday night not to come back to work until he was cleared by his doctor(which in his line of work is understandable). I worked on Tuesday and was off on Thursday to take Ferrell to his appointments. I went to work on Friday. During all this time, Ferrell was going golfing etc. but not driving because doctor said he couldn't. He was really sore for about two days after seizure though. I will write about the next episode tomorrow.

On Friday, the 4th we met Mandy(Pixie's older sister) at the Rockefeller Center for a tour of downtown. We caught the signts in the RC and then went out side to Times Square. We went and saw Promethius and took pictures. I will post them as soon as I get a card reader tomorrow. It is easier than trying to load them via software. We went to a 3 story Toys R Us. We saw the set of Good Morning America and the Today Show. We went into the Times Square Hard Rock Cafe for a rest an snack. We went to Radio City Music Hall. We haven't actually gone into any of the touristy spots that cost money because we are waiting for the girls to get her next weekend. We got to see the ball that falls on New Year's Day. It was fun for me but torture for Ferrell. He absolutely hates NYC and all the people. He is a small town boy all the way. He is fine with it though bedause this is where we need to be. He wasn't in a great mood when we got back to Hotel but was better by that night. He can't stand crowds and TS was very crowded. Oh well! It was an experience anyways. We have been taking it easy yesterday(Saturday) and today(Sunday). We went for a walk around the neighborhood yesterday and went to the exercise room for some light exercise for Ferrell and not so light for me. It was good! We are watching the Nascar race right now. Will post more tomorrow.

NYC Day 2

Hi! This is Doralyn again. Day 2 we rode the bus into NYC from NJ where our hotel is. It was a pleasant ride and completely safe and CHEAP. We went to see Dr. Rosenfeld. We are very impressed with his practice. We spent 2 1/2 hours or better there and joined a research group while we were there so that maybe Ferrell can help "the finding a cure" process. Well Ferrell is ready to eat now and to go look at different lodging facilities so I must run for now. I will finish this post tonight. Ok so it is Sunday now but the Internet has been down the last 24 hours or so otherwise I would have updated sooner. We got the low down on the chemo process. Here it is: Ferrell will start chemo the night before his first radiation treatment. He will take Zofran 30 minutes before Temodar for nausea and then Bactrum(antibiotic) 3-4 days a week due to suseptibility to a certain form of pneumonia. The chemo will last 42 days to start with, then he gets 30 days off, and finally he will take it 5 days out of every 28 days for at least a year. We go in Tuesday for a simulation of radiation and hopefully will start radiation on Wed. due to us being so far from home. Will keep you posted.

NYC Wow!

Good Morning all! This is Doralyn. Well we have now been in NY for 2 days. The first day we went to see the radiologist, Dr. Isaacson. He went over Ferrell's before and after MRIs with us. He was very impressed with what a wonderful job his neurosurgeon did from Ft. Walton Beach(Dr. Manski). He told us that ten years ago he would have given Ferrell 3 months to live and not much else and five years ago he would have been offering whole brain radiation which would live him a changed man mentally. Now he can offer us radiation that is precise within a 2 mm range. He has patients coming back now from five and six years ago but not much longer than that due to the fact that this treatment is only that old. We were very impressed with him and given much HOPE for the future. Ferrell will have a simulation treatment next Tuesday and start right after that. He will do radiation 5 days a week and chemo 7 days a week for six weeks. Then 30 days off and then 5 days of chemo every month(28 days) for at least a year.