A week ago on Monday, July 21, a sudden, severe and worsening headache drove us to the Teton Valley Health Clinic mid-afternoon. Nearly dismissed as a migraine, a CAT scan was ordered to be certain. It was quickly followed by a MRI. These tests brought up the unbelievable news that there was a mass of some kind in Luke’s head causing the undue pain. We went home to unpack from our recent trip to MT and re-pack for points unknown – Idaho Falls or Salt Lake.Since time was of the essence (they recommended travel by ambulance), we opted to drive ourselves to Idaho Falls and check into the ER there, as ordered. They were expecting us upon arrival and we were well received. They admitted Luke, we briefly met with a surgeon and then we were transferred upstairs for the night. Finally, they were able to stabilize the intense pain in his head.On Tuesday morning I helped cut his curly locks before they shaved his head for a final, calibrating MRI. That afternoon brought him into surgery where they cut a dime-sized hole through his skull, above his left ear, and extracted 8 core sample for biopsy. A painful night followed, as one might expect after a hole has been drilled into your head.Wednesday morning brought full relief and Luke was eager to get home. It would likely be Monday before pathology results were in and while we anticipated the worst there was no reason to dwell on what we didn’t know during this time in limbo – we are cup half full people. With steroids to keep the swelling in his brain down, Luke was feeling A+ and went on to mow and weed-whack our entire property the next day, while I simultaneously unpacked from the MT wedding we’d been at that Saturday and hospital detritus from our stay there, depending on which bag I pulled from.

Thankfully the pathology came back Thursday afternoon, but the news was not good – a primary brain tumor, glioblastoma glioma, stage 4.

I spent most of Friday on the phone identifying our next route of care. Through a variety of recommendations, combined with our western location and the fastest possible availability to see a specialist, we were serindipidiously lead to UC San Francisco and the renowned care of Dr. Mitchel Berger. I can’t thank our PA in Driggs enough for her care, consideration and follow through in helping us narrow down our options and move quickly to establish our next necessary steps.  Thanks to her forethought to include Duke, the nations leading neuro-oncology facility, we received a personal call from the nations neuro-oncology guru, Dr. Friedman. It was totally unexpected and reassuring. It was also like talking to a superstar. He assured us that Dr. Mitch Berger is the best on the west coast and to ignore the statistics. People can beat this and that’s the mind-set you have to have going into it. Perseverance – our Alaskan motto will come in handy. Luke is definitely one to beat the odds. His call helped us finalize our course, in combination with the fact that we were able to secure an 8:30 am appointment for the following Monday – as in 3 days away.

We spent Saturday at home securing the homestead for our imminent departure and packing for an indeterminable time away. Of course we couldn’t have done either without the help of our local friends and family – for all of which we’re thankful and greatly appreciative. We left home on at 5:30 am on Sunday and after a brief stop in IF to pick up a MRI disc, we were on the road to Salt Lake to catch an afternoon flight to San Francisco. Luke’s sister, Anna, sweetly and thankfully flew in ahead of us and shuttled us magically to the hotel. 15 hours of travel and one tired family landed after being blown in a whirlwind to the Pacific coast.

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