After discussing all possible treatment regiments and protocols with Dr Ray Richards it looks like the best option for this tumor would be chemotherapy. Ray has worked very hard on this and was even able to talk with Dr Jackle at the Mayo Clinic who wrote the current protocol for Oligodendromas in the United States. He indicated that chemo only is "done all the time" in their clinic because it works so well on these types of tumors and because they can spare the patient the long term side effects of radiation therapy. They still can hold radiation therapy in reserve if it is needed.
Ricky now has an appointment Monday the 9th in the morning to meet with Dr Haslem. He has accepted Ricky as a patient and is ready to help him with the chemo side of this process. He and Ray have discussed everything and Dr Haslem is ready to begin the treatments that will help Ricky with this next step. The chemotherapy is given 5 days out of every 28 days and would probably be given for one year. It is still a hard regiment but patients under age 40 usually do well with this type of treatment. It is still chemo with all of the side effects of nausea, vomiting, fatigue, body aches, etc. but Ricky says he is up for the challenge. He is going to try to stay in school and work through it. What a great attitude. We just don't know when exactly he will start it. We'll keep everyone posted.
Jeff
