Please pray!

For the past several days, Curt has been running a fever and having pretty bad headaches. (Prior to this, he has had no headaches at all since they did the surgery to remove the tumor.) The doctors have been trying to determine where the fever is coming from, as there are no other symptoms that would indicate a cold or the flu, etc. They have been doing blood work over the past few days to determine the type and source of infection that might be causing the fever and accompanying fatigue. They did an MRI this afternoon, and we got some disappointing news...they discovered a mass growing in the original tumor bed.

There are two things that this mass could be: a recurrence of the tumor or a brain abscess. Differentiating between brain abscesses and high-grade brain tumors (such as Curt’s) is often difficult, even with an MRI. This evening (Thursday) he was put on IV antibiotics at the outpatient Kaiser clinic in case it is an abscess, and then we came home. (The three different antibiotics they gave him were the same that would have been given at the hospital to treat a brain abscess.) Tomorrow (Friday) morning, the neurosurgeon on Oahu will be consulted to get a diagnosis and determine a course of action.

Please pray for an accurate diagnosis of Curt’s condition, as this is the most important thing at this point in time. Everything that will be done stems from this diagnosis, so please pray for the doctors to have supernatural insight and wisdom as they view the MRI images and review the blood work.

If it is determined that the mass is a tumor, there is talk of starting the radiation and chemo immediately (they were scheduled to start on June 7th). There is a new drug that has been showing good success in recent studies in shrinking tumors and surrounding swelling. (We were hoping to be able to have this type of chemo right off the bat, but it is only approved for recurrent tumors.) Please pray that if this treatment is right for him, that it will be approved.

Thank you so much for supporting us in prayer as we face this next challenge. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:8, “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing…” We trust that God will guide us through these deep waters! Please pray with us for Curt’s recovery, and for strength and perseverance in the days ahead.

Love you all,
Patti