Dear Church Family & Friends;
Donna is doing very well still and is saying things like 'When I get home…' which tells me that she's ready to leave Joan Glancy Rehab!
Donna has walked for the second day in a row! She walked from her room down a long hallway to the cafeteria. After speaking with a nurse, I learned that this long hallway is an 1/8 of a mile! She is also moving her wrist and ankle much better!
Here's where we are with the balance of her treatment.
She will still be receiving about 3 hours a day of intense rehab workouts during the day. These workouts help her with her motor skills and her short-term memory. These go Monday through Saturday.
Her medication is changing also. She is now down to 6 mgs. Of Decadron, the steroid that is decreasing the brain swelling from the surgery. She is still on Dilantin for seizures - as she will be on for the foreseeable future just as a precaution.
Her appetite is good. Actually too good; she's getting concerned that that she will be gaining weight while she's in the hospital! (Only Donna! I Love her!)
Tuesday we go to Decatur Radiation again for a 'Mapping'. This is a process that the radiation oncologist performs where he maps out how he will radiate the 'bad cells' where the tumor was and he will be able to leave the good cells intact.
On Wednesday, Donna will begin her radiation. This will be everyday for a period of 6 weeks. In the meantime, we will be contacting other resources in the area, like Emory, regarding the possibility about doing chemotherapy after the radiation.
I also wanted to share that both Frankie & Thomas have been doing very well with this whole situation. They realize that their mother is in a very serious situation with her health and they know that it could be fatal. I felt it best to be very up front with them over this situation, and they seem to be handling it well. If anyone wants to see if prayer works, just take a look at my kids!
Once again, thank-you all for your many prayers and acts of kindness and love that you have shown to our family at this time. I was speaking to some of the guys at church and was telling them that as a guy, you never feel that you should ask for a hand as it's against our nature as a guy to do so. Yet at times like these, I am learning that one of the main functions of the church and the body of Christ is that we are here for one and other. And, as the Lord would have it, we discussed this in Sunday School today! He does have it all figured out!
As always, our prayer request is for 1.) The Lord's will to be done at this time through this situation, 2.) That the tumor NEVER returns in Donna's body, 3.) That Donna will handle the radiation well without many side effects.
Again, thank-you all for everything that you have done and for all that you mean to our family. We Love You All!
In His Name, Service and Love,
Frank
PS - I will be sending these updates every 2-4 days. Just wanted to let you know as some folks were asking if everything was OK when they didn't get an update.