16 May 2010

Thank you again for all of your support, prayers, phone calls, visits, etc for my father, Norm. Things are getting better day by day and his strength is improving. He is so grateful for all of the wonderful friends and family that surround and support him. We are hopeful that he will continue to see improvement with each chemo treatment and that as one of Dad's great friend stated, "That the Lord's plan for Norm, jives with our own."

Thank you,

Sarai

Below is a message from Norm to everyone:

Hi,

First of all, I'm doing good. My energy is up and for the last 3 days, I have had a good 3 hours of occupational and physical therapy each day and have slept through the night. I'm very optimistic on the recovery, but it will just take time. I will have another infusion of chemo on Monday at the hospital to keep the tumor tamed down. Our intent is to after leaving this facility, is to go to Duke University which has a brain tumor research center to get their advice on treatment for this tumor. The doctor's are anticipating my release from the hospital on or around the 25th. Until then, I will remain in acute physical, occupational, speech and recreational therapy everyday. After my release from the hospital, I will continue to have occupational and physical therapy multiple times a week and chemo every two weeks. My family and I appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers that have been directed our way and are sincerely grateful for the love and concern of our friends. We truly are encouraged by the progress by the progress that I am making and the availability of treatments to take care of the tumor.

Love,

Norm

6 May 2010

Hello Everyone,

First off, I want thank everyone so much for all of your wonderful e-mails and calls. We appreciate what wonderful friends my father has. Sad news from our shoreline, the tumor has returned, but there will be no more radiation or surgery, too much damage can occur. They're treating him with anti inflammatory meds, anti seizure meds and chemo every two weeks to shrink the tumor. The doctors have confirmed that the tumor will continue to come back. The doctor has told us that Dad will have to be on chemo for the rest of his life because of the type of tumor and how fast growing it is. He's doing well in PT, OT and speech therapy, remains positive and dedicated to getting better. We are considering alternatives in a couple months if there is not appreciable improvement, maybe even if. The 2-4 hr drive to NYC is grueling and Elan and I rotate with Mom every other day coming in. We wanted everyone to know that Dad just lights up whenever anyone comes and visits him. Dad would welcome any visitors, anytime. Sunday might be a wonderful day for visitors that live around NY, to come and visit him. Thank you for the continuing prayers in Norm's behalf. We need a miracle.

Much love,

Sarai Timothy

April 29th - Your Prayers are Needed for Norm

My family and I are reaching out to all of you because we need your prayers in Norm’s behalf. I am sorry to tell you that my father, Norm Edwards is back in the hospital in New York City with another brain tumor. On Thursday, April 29, 2009, he was working on his boat (not out fishing, thank goodness) and he lost mobility of his left side and started to have seizures. He immediately called my mom at pottery class, who immediately left to meet him. He hung up the phone and called out for help to his two fisherman friends Mitch and Tony, and they called the marine patrol and called 911 when they couldn’t get him out of the boat. By the time Lynda got there, the ambulance was already there and he was on oxygen. They took him to South Hampton hospital, where a CAT scan discovered swelling on the brain. The MRI distinctively showed a tumor in the spot where the original tumor from 18 months ago, showed up. They immediately transferred him back to NYC to Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia University. At this point, surgery is not going to happen because there is too much of a risk of hemorrhaging. They are working with the head of Neurology and Dr. Micheal Sisti, his neurosurgeon, to decide the best route, which is looking like chemo and a new drug (don’t know the name) to help shrink the size of the tumor. He’s disoriented and he’s in a dream-like state and does not have much coordination and he’s speech is slightly slurred. On a bit of good news, the Physical Therapist is helping Dad get out of bed and stand, so that he can start working on his coordination.

We are asking you to please pray for our father and his doctors to help guide them to make the best medical decisions for Norm. He is a strong, faithful man who knows that he has more work to do on this Earth.