Throughout the day I will be posting updates regarding Jeff’s surgery. Julie will be relaying these as soon as she can. Thank you for keeping Jeff and the Goodrich family in your prayers!

11/19 – 10:00 am – Although last night was long, Jeff did well (he is such a stud again!) and pain is at a tolerable level. He is very weak but moving out of the ICU today and home tomorrow.

7:05 pm – He’s out and all went well.

6:40 pm – Jeff was taken into the OR at 145. It is about a 5 hour surgery. Will update when I know more.

1:15 pm – Surgery was delayed due to preceeding surgery. Jeff’s surgery will start at 2:00 pm.

Well all the prep is done. I completed my pre op work today and I will be returning to USC Univ Hosp on Wed 11/18/09 for my surgery at 11am. It all seems a little strange to be doing this all over, but with the gift of time to plan this one, it has put me at ease. Julie and I have the details worked out and it almost seems like I’m going in for out-patient brain surgery. If all goes as planned, I should be back home by Friday 11/20/09 (just like last time. 2 days after surgery). Its great knowing so many people are praying for us already and all the planning is done. Now I can just focus recovery and let the rest fall into place. We will keep this site as updated as we can during the next few weeks. Thank you all so much, Jeff

hello my friends, unfortunately i do not have the best news to report. I had my follow up apointment with my nuero surgeon and nuero oncologist today to review the results from my last MRI. The bad news is I have another tumor in my brain, the good news is its in the same location as last time which is good. With all the headaches i have been having the last few weeks we are not that surprised at the findings. I will most likely be having surgery next week to remove the tumor which is similar to the last one. Julie and I are ready to face this next battle. I will probably only be in the hospital for 3 or 4 days this time and I feel this time will be easier since I know what to expect. God will only give us what we can handle and knowing that makes this seem doable. As we get the details in place I will update. Meanwhile Julie is still up to her eyeballs with school work and studying so please keep the phone calls to her to a minimum and please forgive her for any late responses to text and e-mails she simply doesnt have much time on her hands. Thank you for all the prayers and support. Jeff

Hi Friends, just a quick update to keep everyone in the loop. Tomorrow (11/6/09) I am scheduled for my MRI. I will get the results of the MRI and get my next chemo schedule on Monday (11/9/09). All things considered things are going really good. Yesterday I had the privilege of going to Children’s Hospital LA and talking to some of the kids there who have cancer. Of course I left there feeling more blessed than ever after meeting some of these amazing kids and the staff that works with them. As always thanks for keeping in touch and following our story. Jeff

I had my follow up appointment last Monday and it was not too much of a surprise to find out that some of my numbers were slightly below normal. My doc decided to once again wait a week and do lab work again to recheck numbers. So I did that and will get results on Monday 10/12. My doc thinks we might need to lower my monthly chemo dose so we don’t fall into this same pattern every time. Everything else is going well and my family continues to be blessed with overwhelming support and prayer from all of you. Thank you so much. Simply hearing that someone is checking this site makes me realize how much people care. In His love, Jeff

Hi friends, I just wanted to leave a quick post since it has been a while. Everything has been going well and I have been feeling great. I have an appointment with my neuro oncologist on Monday morning (10/5/09). Its just a normal follow up visit to review my labs and schedule my next chemo cycle which should start 10/06/09 if my numbers are ok.

Thanks for all the continued support and prayers, Jeff

PRAISE GOD! We met with my nuero oncologist today and got the results from my last MRI. They were negative for any new cancer growth! I also had new blood work done today and my numbers were back up, so I am starting chemo tonight. My doc said everything was looking good and my next MRI will be in October. Chemo will continue once a month as usual.

Thank you for all the prayers. In His love, Jeff

Hi friends. I appologize for the delayed results. Here is where we are now. I had an MRI done last week and got the results on Monday (8/31). We got two different opinions on the results: the radiologist thought he saw some recurrence of tumor growth, but my nuero surgeon and nuero oncologist didnt think the area had changed significantly from the last scan. So tomorrow (9/4) I am getting another MRI done. This MRI will be different from the last and without getting too technical, this MRI will indicate if the area has new cancer growth or just dead tissue from the radiation treatments. I will get the results from the new MRI on Tuesday (9/8).

As for my chemo treatments, I was supposed to start my next cycle tomorrow (9/4), but due to some low results on my last lab (8/31), I will hold off and be retested (blood) on Tuesday (9/8). I expect my counts to go up by then and plan to start chemo that day if everything looks good. 

The girls are all doing great back in school (including Julie). Kayla and Natalie have transitioned well into their new schools and Julie is doing very well at nursing school. As for me, Im feeling good and busy with work and doctor appointments.

Thanks again for all your continued support and prayers, Jeff

Hello friends. Just a quick update to let you all know the latest. For the most part I have been feeling pretty good, but over the last two weeks I have had a slight headache that is off and on. Since I am almost due for my next MRI, I decided to call my doctor to tell him what was going on and see if I could move my MRI date up a bit. He agreed and scheduled me for this Monday the 24th at 10am. I will post the results as soon as I get them. No matter what the results are, I will rely on God as my strength and peace and He will carry me through anything. Thanks again to all of you who are following our story and supporting us in so many ways.  Jeff

Hello

I have not felt like writting for a while and I will tell you why.

This has been an interesting summer, I am going to be honest here.  I have been grateful that Jeff has not had any new tumors grow – thank you Lord- and I have been grateful that Kayla and Natalie have been having a good summer without the homework madness ( I know you parents can relate!)  But at the same time I have been bummed because the next 10 months are going to be a struggle – no way to get around it.

Nursing school starting next week – which zaps the life out of me, Jeff obviously getting chemo monthly and every 2 months checking to see if there are any new tumors grwoing, and the adjustment of high school for Kayla and middle school for Natalie.  I just kept thinking I have to finish nursing school so I can bring in some money for us. There just didn’t seem to be a heck of a lot to look forward to, so I was having a pity party in my head.

BUT last week as I was visiting my Mom in Arizona (for those of you who don’t know, she has pretty bad dimensia/Alzheimers now) my thinking turned a corner.  She is doing great, even though we couldn’t communicate with each other with words, we laughed and giggled and just loved being together.  So, as I was driving to the airport thanking God for taking good care of her, I realized I was not trusting Him to take care of me and my family!  I was taking all of the burden of the year to come on my shoulders alone.  No wonder I was having a pity party!

Since this revelation, I am reminding myself to surrender to the Lord because I know he is a faithful God who will never leave me and when I get through these next 10 months (even if there are hiccups in the road) He is going to say “See? I told you I would help you get through it!”

All my love,

Julie