Big meeting with Dr. Neuro-Oncologist yesterday. I'm tardy with my report because I'm sick. (Ava's escape this cold unscathed, but I'm a wreck...) Here's a quick recap:

• Dr. thought that dad's current condition is symptomatic of Parkinson's. (Not something we wanted to hear...) But mom told her she is confident that these symptoms -tremors, rigidity, little blinking and lack of emotion outwardly) are drug induced because he's so highly medicated. She agreed to taper off the seizure meds a bit and stop another memory drug they had him on. This is good news for dad. He's deserves a break from being so doped up.
• On November 29th he will have his first follow-up MRI to see what the situation is up there (hopefully nothing). They will meet with the Dr. immediately following and will assess the need for chemo at that point.
• It was confirmed that dad's tumor has a genetic marker that indicates 1-great odds for long-term survivability and 2-would be treatable by chemo if necessary (not all brain tumors are sensitive to chemo). These genetic markers were discovered in the last decade, one of the many scientific achievements that have taken place since dad's diagnosis in the 80's. For more info, check out http://jco.ascopubs.org/cgi/content/full/18/3/636?eaf.

Overall, the feeling after the appointment was positive. Jenny was able to attend as well. She finally headed back to LV tonight after 10 days with mom and dad - what a trooper.

(cough, cough.....I'm off to bed.)