10/2/2024

Today was a FULL day of pre-op appointments for Josiah. He had a chest X-ray, EKG, an anesthesia assessment, 2 hour cognitive assessment, and research trial review. All the tests went well with good results!

The cognitive assessment was to get a baseline to compare his cognitive skills post surgery. The doctor said he was truly surprised with how well Josiah was communicating based on the size and location of his tumor. While he does struggle a little with word recall, comprehension, jumbling words, working memory, etc they were so happy with where he’s at now despite everything! Praise God! They think some of his cognitive skills typically from the left side of the brain have shifted over to the right side. We will know more specifics as to how much during his functional MRI the day before the surgery where they will do a cognitive assessment while he is in the MRI.

He will be taking part in a research trial pre surgery as well! It’s a lot of info, but to keep it short it’s to no benefit to his case, it’s only to potentially help others going through this. There are a few risks, but the doctor is very confident he will be fine. If you’re curious and want to look it up, the study is called: BT015: Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption (BBBD) Liquid Biopsy in Subjects With GlioBlastoma Brain Tumor

All in all, productive day! We are SO overwhelmed and grateful to everyone’s prayers and donations helping make these trips and treatments possible for him. It’s a lot, and we just can’t express our thanks enough. ❤️