~Diagnosis

A week after the surgery, we returned to the Lahey Brain Tumor Clinic for the results of the biopsy. We were told that Joshua had a Grade 3 Primary Brain Tumor, and while I will not go into the long medical name, this basically means that it was a malignant, medium-level tumor that originated in the brain. As soon as I heard the doctor say "Grade 3", I began to tear up, because I had been so hoping that it was not cancer. However, in some ways, that is almost better, as benign brain tumors oftentimes grow just as much but do not repond as well to treatment.

There were two doctors in the meeting, and they began to debate the various treatment options. One doctor suggested starting with Chemotherapy, while the other one recommended both that and Radiation. Chemo alone seemed like the "easy" option, as there are less side-affects and long-term difficulties, but we at least wanted to hear a little more about our other choices. As they paged a Radiation Oncologist to come speak with us, I began to panic inside . . . what should we do? Which treatment was more effective? One doctor was adamant that we only start with Chemo, while the other one thought it was best to complete both.

After spending about two minutes with the Radiation Oncologist, we had all made our decision regarding treatment. He was one of those people that you instantly like - just a great guy. He was personable, intelligent, and, most importantly, optomistic. He gave us the rundown of the process and side effects, all while assuring us that Joshua was going to live. He advised that Joshua's young age was the single most important factor in his prognosis. While many people shy away from radiation because of the long-term hair loss, he assured Joshua that he had developed a procedure that might save his hair. He would likely lose it all initially, but the goal was for his hair to completely grow back. He said so many encouraging things to us . . . I literally could never say enough positive things about him. I later found out that he is nationally renowned and has been voted one of Boston's best doctors multiple years in a row.  What a blessing it was to have him as a doctor!

We left that meeting encouraged and ready to fight against the tumor with all guns blazing. We had decided on a year of Chemotherapy, along with 7 weeks of Radiation in MA. We did not know how exactly everything would work out, as I still had a job and had to work until September, all while interviewing for a new position. We also did not have a way to drive back and forth from MA to ME very often, as we owned a 1998 Dodge Neon that constantly overheated and broke down whenever we attempted to drive it more than 20 minutes away. Lastly, we had the obstacle of how Joshua would get to the Radiation appointments each weekday. Lahey is about 15 minutes away from where we were staying with his grandparents, both of which were unavailable to drive him each day, and Joshua could not drive at that time because of the seizures. We had two weeks to figure it all out before the treatments began. Thankfully, we had God . . . and He had a plan.