Wednesday March 31, 2009 --- He's doing great!!

The doctors came and evaluated Kyle today and he passed with flying colors so this means ... No Rehab. Also, he is basically off his pain meds. He says the pain is at about a three, which is alot better than the other day. He's walking with good balance and he's sporting a stylish "do" ... a half shaved head!!

The MRI they took yesterday looked really good ... not alot of swelling. They were pleased with the results.


These are the late night ramblings of Jocelyn ... while talking on the phone with Lynette.
(Sorry it took so long)

Tuesday, March 30, 2010--Pain Level--TEN

After the surgery Kyle was taken to the ICU. He was adamant before surgery that they remove the respirator tube as soon as possible. The tube hurt and bothered his throat so much from the last surgery. They assured him that as soon as he could breath on his own that they would remove the tube. Luckily, they removed the tube right away.

Also, they used titanium plates to secure the two bone pieces together and then titanium screws to attach them. I forgot to mention that in the previous blog.

Kyle was still a little sedated until about 8:00p.m.. After 8 o'clock he was alert and able to have full function of his left hand, arm and leg. This movement was a big relief for me. I didn't want to have to stay to do rehab. Both of us want to just go home. He said the he is visualizing it and doing everything that they ask him to do--eat, stand, walk, etc....

He had a rough night. He didn't sleep much because the pain was a TEN, but he didn't want to have the morphine because he was afraid that it would cause him to throw up and then the pain level would be off the charts. He is on one pain killer pill--but it can only be given every 4 hours. By the time three hours has passed he is in too much pain. I talked to the nurse and we have decided to order two pills and only take one every two hours to stay on top of the pain.

He will be having another MRI this afternoon and hopefully moved to the surgical floor. His head is pretty swollen, but not as bad as the first surgery. For some reason he is really swollen on his left side between his eye and his ear. We just applied ice packs to take the swelling down.

Today Houston's weather is in the 80's. It is a beautiful day. And Barbara Bush is in the hospital next to MD Anderson. She was admitted over the weekend.

Monday March 29, 2010 -- Surgery Day

Todays surgery will be 9 hours. As of now they haven't cut into him, but are doing the MRI to prep for the surgery. I will be posting updates throughout the day as to how things are going ... they figure the next update will be around noon.

Update: They informed me that they have now started the surgery. They have made the scalp incision and removed the bone. They are gently trying to flip back the dura "tough mother". It seems to be stuck because of the previous surgery. I am doing great and feel very optimistic about what is happening. Although, Kyle and I didn't want to have surgery we both know that we are doing the best possible thing to get the most of the tumor out. I will continue to update--probably around 2:00

Update: They have removed a resection (tumor) and than wheeled the bed into the MRI to scan him again. They decided that they needed to remove more of the resection. I don't know if we told you before but the tumor is about the size of a dime with arms coming out of it. Kyle thought that it looked like an octopus. The MRI's here have 5 times the resolution to other MRI. They are High Definition MRIs. The pictures are very clear and concise. Next update around 4:00

Surgeon's update: Surgery is over! It ended at 3:40, so Kyle was in surgery for 7 hours and 40 minutes. The surgeon said that they cut along the previous incision, but they had to cut a bigger section of the bone. They had mentioned that they might need to do this because it looked like the tumor was further behind the ear than they had previously cut. Once inside the surgeon said the there was nothing there that looked like an AVM -- strictly a tumor. He noticed where they had taken the biopsy and removed blood clots. There were still some remaining blood clots. Using all of the information that they had from the scans, they mapped the tumor. They learned that the motor function of his brain was 2 inches behind the tumor. So they were very conservative in their removal there as not to disturb that area. They know that they were able to remove 100% of the bulk (enchancing) part of the tumor. But surrounding the tumor is this fuzzy area (non-enchancing) that contains seeds and fingers of the tumor. They feel like they were able to remove 75-80% of the non-enchancing parts. Most surgeon don't even try to take out these parts but here they believe that it is important to remove as much as possible for the greatest success. Radiation and chemotherapy should take care of the remaining non-enchancing. The surgeon felt like the surgery went well and that all of his scans were very helpful.

He is now on his way to ICU. The surgeon said that he thinks that we can fly home on Saturday if all goes well. He has stitches instead of staples. He will have to have them remove next Friday.

Friday March 26-2010 Ready for Surgery

Today I found out that I am the first surgery on Monday morning. I check in at 6:00am, I am glad to get started early, which means I will be out early. I had some tests today that went very well. I am so impressed with the staff and people here at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. They are so positive and full of so much helpful information. I had to give blood samples today, not my favorite thing, I made a mistake by watching them poke me, which made me a little dizzy as my wife Lynette kept telling me DON't Watch! I Feel better now. I can't tell you how much more my confidence has grown over the past few days since being here. I learned that they perform over 5000 brain surgeries a year compared to 5 to 10 in most other hospitals. I know this is where I need to be. For myself and my family. I feel your love and warm prayers. Thank you so much. I am very optimistic about things and feel good about

Posted by Kyle Denning

Thursday, March 25, 2010--Tests, test, and more tests.

Yesterday was full of tests and today Kyle is having a brain MRI with and without contrast and then a functional MRI. Then I am going to a local chiropractor this afternoon to adjust my back. It is a killer to sit all day in a hospital. My body doesn't like it. I also have a massage scheduled for tomorrow. Other than that things are going fairly well. Kyle is getting a little anxious about the surgery. Last time he had the luxury of not knowing anything about it. This time he has too many days to think about it. We will be able to find out the scheduled surgery time tomorrow. As soon as we know we will post it here.

Wednesday - 3/24/2010- We are in Houston, TX

Kyle and I are staying in Houston, Texas for a couple of weeks. I told him that we can count this as our 25th anniversary trip. We came to find out if there was anything different from the procedures that the U of U. I really thought that this would be with the oncology. Hoping that they would have an in house trail that would give up better odds of beating this tumor. But as we talked to the oncologist they recommended the same procedures as the U of U. I suggested that we cancel our appointment with the surgeon and get on the earlier flight home. They prefered that we meet with him and provided us with an earlier appointment so that we could still fly home earlier. As he explained the procedure to us, we were impressed. Before the surgery they preform a functional MRI. This is an MRI that they ask him over a microphone to preform different tasks. They look at what part of the brain reacts as he preforms. They also preform a cordical mapping. The way I understand this test is that they use an electrical technic to know what is tumor and want is brain. But the main attraction the wowed us was the "BrainSuite". This is an operating room MRI. The surgeon scan Kyle and create a navigational set. Then they take him out of the machine and begin the operation. At any time they can put him back in the MRI to see if they have removed all that they need to. If they see anything they have the immediate knowledge of what they need to do. Their goal is to get out 98 plus percent of the tumor. The more that they can remove the better and less problematic it is in the future. The radiation and chemo are more effective on the less that is remaining. We fell that this is our best option. Surgery will be preformed on Monday. He will stay in the ICU that night and moved to the surgical floor for two to three days, depending on how he is doing. If he needs rehab then he will have to stay and do that. Lets all pray that he makes it through and that we can go home by next Friday. That would be wonderful!

I also learned that they will wait for two weeks after surgery to start the radiation and chemo. We will be doing these in Utah. Love you all--thanks for all of your prayers, we really feel them.

Saturday, March 20, 2010--Doing great!

Sorry that we haven't written for a week. I know that everyone wants to keep informed as to how things are going and what is happening.

First, Kyle beat the record for getting out of rehab-- instead of 3 to 4 weeks-- he was out in 4 days. They gave him a list of things that he needed to accomplish to be released and he set his mind to it and got it done. He didn't have an MRI before he was released, like we mentioned in the previous entry. They decided to wait and give a navigational MRI the day before surgery. Sorry, I am gettting ahead of myself. Back to this last week. Kyle want to occupational and physical therapy on Tuesday. Wednesday the panel of doctors at Huntsman met and discussed what they think will be the best treatment for Kyle. Dr. Randy Jensen, neurosurgeon, called and talked to Kyle about the plan. Jocelyn drove Kyle to St. George on Friday to watch Ty and Shayne's baseball games. They will be returning tonight. Luckily, Jocelyn's husband, Tony was able to fly in from Virginia last night. They will be leaving Wednesday morning to drive her car back to Virginia. Having Jocelyn here has been so wonderful. I personally couldn't have made it through this without her and Alyssa's positive attitudes, laughter, and faith. They have bouyed me up when I thought I couldn't do it anymore. They are great!

Tomorrow, I will be taking Kyle to visit his ward at least for Sacrament Meeting but maybe more if he feels like he has the energy. He wants to be with them so bad. We love them so much.

Here is the schedule for this next week:

Monday-Kyle and I are flying to Houston, Texas.

Tuesday-Going to MD Anderson Cancer Clinic. Meeting at 8:30 a.m. with oncologist and 10:30 with neurosurgeon. Flying home that night hopefully with comfirmation that what we plan on doing is the best or new ideas that might work better.

Wednesday-10:00 a.m. meeting at Uof U with Dr. Jenson, 2:00p.m. admitting, and 4:00 p.m. navigational MRI.

Thursday-Surgery to remove the tumor. Stay in the ICU that night.

Friday and Saturday-move to the Surgical Floor if there are no complications.

Sunday-Hopefully, Kyle will get to come home.

Kyle will start radiation therapy on Monday. He will have radiation treatments Monday-Friday for 6 weeks. Also on Monday, he will start chemotherapy on the drug Temodar. He will be on Temodar for one year. About every two months he will have an MRI to keep an eye on the tumor site.

I am home... (Monday March 15, 2010)

I am now home from the hospital...It was so exciting to be able to sleep in my own comfortable bed vs the hospital bed.Thanks so much for all of you for your thoughts and prayers on my behalf. I am feeling so much better. Even well enough to type this blog entry. still have some outpatient therapy to do to keep my mind sharp and muscles working well.

Kyle

Friday March 12, 2010

I'm Going Home .... That's right Dad is coming home on Sunday morning. They said he has improved so much that he gets to come home. He is very overjoyed with the fact that he will get to eat real food and sleep in his own bed.

Before he gets discharged he will have an MRI to make sure everything is still alright. After he comes home he will be doing outpatient therapy for a couple days a week, unfortunately they don't have any outpatient facilities that we can go to in Orem and Provo. So he will be doing his therapy in Sugarhouse. Although that will be tough at least we will have our Dad back with us.

Also, tonight they took out his staples. He thinks he will be to sleep much better with those out of his head.

Thursday March 11, 2010

Yesterday was a good day ... Mom and I ended up staying home to do things around the house that were starting to pile up. My grandparents went up for lunch and had a really good time with Dad. They said it's just like nothing had ever happened. Dad had a fun physical therapy session in which he got to play basketball (to work on coordination) and also working with a large exercise ball (to work on balance). Everyday he is getting stronger and more like his old self.

Mom called him later in the afternoon to let him know we wouldn't be up, he was alright with the fact knowing that he would still have visitors. For dinner, Dad's brother and his wife went up to visit and eat with him. Although I don't know all that went on yesterday I knew he was working hard to come back home. Everyday he talks about working hard enough so he can come home in time for the boys baseball tournament in St. George.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Mom and I (Jocelyn) just arrived up to see Dad this morning. When we walked into his room he was lying in his bed with his knees up sleeping. I giggled, making him wake up and smile at us for being here. Late last night Alyssa finished making a scrap book of Dad's life thus far just for him to have and look at when/if he's feeling lonely. He sat up in bed all by himself, looking at the book he smiled and laughed to himself thinking of all the fun memories he has had. It was about that time that Mom and I noticed that his pants were inside out! When asked about it he didn't know what we were talking about. We all laughed over it and Dad later told us that he dressed himself and hadn't realized his pants were inside-out, even after going to all his scheduled lessons no one told him about his pants. I think they were just trying to be nice and not embarrass him. At least he can laugh about it now.

He is doing so much better already. He gets up in the morning dresses himself, brushes his teeth, walks (by himself) to breakfast, goes to the various lessons he has that day, takes a nap in between, and ends the day with a little relaxation of watching T.V..

We are all so very proud of him and all the work he is doing to get back to his old self. a

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Today is the day Dad will be moving to Rehab. We (as a family) have decided to move Dad up to the U of U hospital in Salt Lake. The ambulance will be coming to get him any minute to whip him up there.

He is very excited to start being more physical and not just sitting in a bed all day. So hopefully he will be doing more in no time. Also, he did a lap around the whole ICU this morning. Making us all excited that he will do well at Rehab.

Monday March 8, 2010

Physical Therapy woke Dad up at 7 a.m. to go for a walk. He made it all the way down the hall, gave the column a high-five and headed back to his room, still with some assistance. When asked what he would like to include today for the blog he replied: I am very excited about baseball season that starts today, hope the boys will be able to hit the ball. I wish I could be out on the field with them.

As of right now, we are going through the process of figuring out what rehab facility would be best for Dad at this point. If we can make a decision, he will hopefully be moving there today!

Sunday March 7, 2010

Sorry that this is a day late ... Yesterday was a relaxing day for us and most of us took a nap, meaning that the blog was never written. Mom woke up early and went to Dad's BYU ward to bear her testimony and let all those young married couples and let them know that Dad is doing great and misses being there. Then all of us went to our home ward where she bore her testimony again. After that we came to the hospital to see dad and how he was doing. We were told that he stood up and WALKED to the window in his room with some assistance with physical therapy!! Later that day after lunch Dad walked to the Nurse's Station and back to his room, again with assistance with physical therapy!! We were so impressed that he was able to do this in such a short time. He continues to do well and can't wait 'til he can be walking on his own and out doing all the things he enjoys doing.

Saturday, March 6

We listened to a second opinion and decided that we are not going to be doing a MRI on monday; we will wait for the swelling to go all the way down before we go back into surgery. We have heard that there are sometimes complications with taking out more then needed because of the swelling. So we will go from there.

Today has been a good day, he was able to keep doing awesome during Physical Therapy, he was able to stand up twice again getting more motion in the neck and in his left arm. The nurses have been extremely nice to him and he accounts this to his "Bubbly Personality". Everything he has asked for they have obliged to give him, firstly his Dr. Pepper, they let him have a sip yesterday so of course today that is all he said that he wanted. So they let him have a small cup to sip throughout the day. He then asked for the T.V remote so he could keep up on sports, he really enjoyed that, he watched BYU men volleyball and some basketball. This morning he also asked for the tube in his head to be removed because it has really been bugging him, to all of our surprise his doctor said, "Well Dr. Kyle I think that is a brilliant idea!" About 5 minutes later it was out and his head was exposed with all the bandages taken off. His total count is 46 staples, they took 4 out so now he is at 42 staples! Now that is impressive!

Thank you for keeping posted.

Love,

Alyssa

Update for Friday March 5, 2010

Mom talked to the Neurosurgeon this afternoon. He informed her that the pathology report said that it was not an AVM but it was in fact a Grade Three Cancerous Tumor ( Astrocytoma Neoplasm : Anaplastic Astrocytoma). This continues to shock us. We are specifically asking that all who read this and care about Kyle, will fast and pray for him this Sunday. He told us that he isn't going to quit on us, and we're hoping he can keep to that promise. We're praying for a miracle.

The plan for Monday will be another MRI with a contrasting dye. Also, Surgery is planned for next week to remove the tumor. Then radiation and chemotherapy. But miracles have been known to happen, and tumors that they thought were there, were no longer there. We will be praying for that miracle.

Friday March 5, 2010

Last night after a very nice leg massage by Ty and Alyssa, Dad was able to eat two cubes of orange Jello, apple juice and for dessert a few bites of vanilla ice cream. It is nice to be able to see him eat, especially since he's been patting his stomach whenever the subject of food comes up.

Physical Therapy came this morning and were able to get Dad to stand .... twice!! Amazing. He just barely ate lunch and actually ate quite a bit, there was some Tomato Soup (which he wasn't very fond of), Red Jello (He ate all of that), Vanilla Pudding (ate two bites of this), and drank a cup a milk. He's really enjoying the foot rubs and food. Hopefully soon he will be able to eat even more. He is really craving steak, and has told us multiple times that he wants to go to Maddox, in Brigham City for some nice meat and rolls. The nurses told him they would gladly puree him some, he shook his head and said with a smile on his face, "That completely defeats the purpose." so he is working hard to be able to go to Ty and Shayne's games and eat some nice hardy food.

They put little socks on his feet so when he stands he won't slip and to our surprise he hasn't wanted us to take them off, which if anyone knows my dad he likes his feet exposed, he even shovels snow in sandals and shorts. He is also moving his left side more then he was, the physical therapists are happy about this, he even reached up his left arm to his face this morning to take care of an itch. So all in all today has been a very good day!

Thank you all so much for your support!

Love

Alyssa and Jocelyn

Thursday March 4, 2010

Look who's talking now .... Dad actually began mumbling things last night. You had to get down close to his mouth to actually understand what he was saying. But this morning he's talking like there's no tomorrow. Although his voice is still quite soft, but much better than yesterday. I'm very grateful that he still has his sense of humor. He's cracking jokes, most likely just to lighten the mood, just like he always has.

In a few minutes they will be wheeling him down for an MRI. We'll be awaiting the results for that and updating when we find more.

Kyle was able to eat a blue popsicle all by himself. He really enjoyed the coolness on his raw throat. For dinner, he ate vanilla pudding.

Physical Therapy came and tried to get Kyle to stand up, but he wasn't quite able to do so. Since he hadn't been eating much we figured he would have a harder time doing this.

We found out that Shayne made Student Council for Academic Chair. Also, that both Ty and Shayne made this years baseball team. If any of you would like to donate they are doing a fundraiser in order to earn money for the team. You can make a check out to: Alpine Foundation for Orem High School Baseball.

Here are a couple of really good websites that give more information about AVMs.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/brain-avm/DS01126

http://brainavm.oci.utoronto.ca/malformations/brain_avm_index.htm

Wednesday March, 3 2010

Mom woke up early this morning thinking of Dad, so she called the hospital knowing his Cat Scan results would be in. They gave us miraculous news that the swelling had down 1.4 mm making the grand total 7.6mm!! We've been so grateful for the fasting and prayers to make this happen. This morning the doctor came in to take a look at his breathing, he went back on the ventilator last night to ensure that he would have lots of rest, they just switched it back over to the CPAP to breathe on his own. The Doctor asked if he would give him a big breathe and really stick with it today then they would take him off the CPAP as well. He gave a very big nod, he wants that out of him!

Love,

Jocelyn and Alyssa

11:30 a.m.

We gave Dad a little break from so many visitors and went to support Shayne in an assembly for Academic Chair Elections. Upon arriving back to the hospital Dad's tubes were gone!! He is breathing all on his own but has the CPAP near by just in case. As I am typing this he is going through some physical therapy, hopefully he'll be strong enough in no time. We are trying to get him to talk because the earlier he does the better. We just have to continue to take things one day at a time.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Kyle's 2:00 a.m. Cat-scan had a reading of 9mm again. Our prayers have been answered. He had a stable night.

This morning Kyle's neurosurgeon and respiratory therapist were debating over whether to leave his ventilator in another day ... the compromise was to check his lungs and make sure everything was alright. They ended up clearing a lot of mucus out of his lungs.

For some information, we're trying to find a good website that explains about AVM.

Today, not to much was going on. We tried to make sure he got a lot of rest, for having such a busy day yesterday. Some colleagues stopped by to show support, and we able to see Kyle for a few minutes. Upon them leaving the room, Kyle raised his hand and waived goodbye.

The swelling and color in his right eye has decreased and is looking much better; although the right side of his face is still quite swollen. We are making sure we keep ice packs on this swelling to help it decrease. Also, the ventilation was decreased to a CPAP .... which is continuing to help him with his breathing. We are happy that he is continuing to do very well.

We are very greatful for all of the wonderful nurses and staff who continually taking great care of him.

Monday March 1, 2010

Kyle was scheduled to have his next Cat-Scan between midnight and 2:00 a.m.. I watched the clock as I laid in bed read: 1:00, 2:00, 3:00, and finally at 4:00 the relief that the hospital had not called allowed me to finally get some much need sleep. Once at the hospital, the nurse informed us that Kyle had been stable all night and that his Cat-Scan read 9mm. That was great news! His brain will swell for the next three to four days, so 9mm is great. In our prayers we are specifically praying for 9mm or less.

Kyle's right eye is black and blue and very swollen because of the surgery. It looks like a plum. But he was able to open his left eye once in a while. He could answer our questions with a "yes or no" nod of his head. He was also able to squeeze our hands with his right hand. He nodded "yes" when I asked him if he could feel me rub his left arm. All of this is a great sign of hope.

Saturday February 27, 2010 - The Beginning

Kyle had been getting migraine headaches for about three weeks. On Saturday (about 1:30 p.m.) after doing an intense P90X Kenpo work out, Kyle grabbed his head with a very strong headache. This headache was so intense that he immediately felt nauseated. He ran to the bathroom to vomit. He then tried to lay down and sleep it off but when he laid down the pressure was too intense and uncomfortable for him to sleep. So he moved to a recliner and put a damp cloth over his eyes and forehead in the dark theater room. I stayed with him and told him just to relax there. I had some errands I had to run and would check-up on him later.( 3:30) Half way through my errands I called home and there was no answer, (4:05) thinking he was asleep I continued on with my errands. Upon arriving home (5:30) I found Kyle on his hands and knees having vomited into the bucket next to him. His speech was slurred and the left side of his mouth was droopy. I ran to get help from our neighbor who is a paramedic. He confirmed the fact that I needed to call 911.

The paramedics rushed him to the ER. They did a Cat Scan. The Cat Scan showed a tangerine size bleed on the right frontal lobe. To rule out an aneurysm they injected him with a dye. Luckily, it was not an aneurysm. But we still were not out of the woods. Kyle was admitted to ICU that night. He was stable all night, but about 6:30 a.m. Sunday morning when they were wheeling him to get another Cat Scan he started to vomit again, an indication that he was bleeding again. So they took him back to his room and put a tube down his nose and into his stomach. Before they could get him back in his room the Cat Scan Tech called to say that the Cat Scan showed that he had bled more about the size of a grapefruit and his brain had move 17mm. The neurosurgeon said that surgery was necessary and urgent. At 7:20 a.m. the hospital called me and told me that Kyle had taken a turn for the worst and asked me to come immediately with my children. Once in the ICU every available hand was busy working on Kyle to prep him for surgery. Barb, the head nurse, matter-a-factly told us the seriousness of this surgery. When there is surgery on the brain--there is a high chance that things can go from bad to worst.

He was immediately taken into surgery. The surgeon said that it was about a 2 hour surgery, but it lasted 4 hours. During which it was discovered that he had AVM (Arteriovenous Malformation) making surgery very difficult. We were so relieved when we heard that he had made it through the surgery. He remained in stable condition during the surgery and came out about 1:30 pm. His condition was not critical, but was very serious. They told us that the next 72 hours were critical, as so much can change in so little time. We were very for fortunate that Jocelyn could find an early flight from Virginia arriving at the airport around 8pm Sunday night. Giving her just enough time to let Kyle know she was here before visiting hours were over.

His Cat-Scan right after surgery read an improvement of 8mm. We have been so blessed with your faith and prayers. Please keep them coming the next 72 hours in critical to his successful recovery.