A week ago today, July 31st, Tony and Jackie were supposed to be leaving for vacation to Sturgis, SD. Jackie called Tony to tell him that she was on her way home and Tony let her know that he was dizzy and not feeling well.

Tony had been feeling off for a few weeks and had talked to his Dr., where they thought it was high blood pressure. Jackie drove Tony to the hospital in Madison, SD where they did a CT scan and found a mass on back left of Tony's brain and masses in his lungs and chest cavity. The mass on Tony's brain was 3.5x3x2cm. Tony was brought to Avera- McKennen Hospital in Sioux Falls and admitted to the ICU in the Brain and Spine Institute.

Tony had surgery on Friday August 1st, that lasted just about 5 hours, to remove the mass from his brain. Tony's family was told to expect the worst and prepare for permanent damage in some form- whether that be relearning to walk, problems with balance, or other cerebellum related issues.

Saturday morning, Tony had a CT scan where it showed that the Dr's were able to remove 100% of the mass in Tony's brain and they sent it off to be biopsied to determine what type of cancer it was. Tony was up and walking with PT and OT and was doing better than expected and the Drs discussed sending Tony home on Sunday. Saturday night, Tony was moved out of ICU to a regular room in the brain and spine area of the hospital.

On Sunday morning, Tony met with his Dr and discussed his progress and how the Drs thought he could go home and how they thought he was progressing really well. They also discussed a partial clot in a vein in the skull, but they prescribed aspirin and there were no concerns. By Sunday afternoon Tony was on his way home with Jackie, Whit, and Sean.

On Monday Tony rotated between resting and chatting with visitors. After dinner, Jackie, Whit, Sean, and Blake (who had called Tony) started to notice that there were some sentences out of place and some slurred speech from Tony, but it cleared up but everyone took note of it. Tony had gone upstairs and soon was yelling for help. Sean and Jackie ran upstairs, where they found Tony bracing himself against sink saying he was dizzy. Jackie and Sean got Tony into bed, where Tony became nauseated and then experienced a seizure. 911 was called and they arrived to transport him to the hospital in Madison. Tony was given anti-seizure medication and anti-nausea medications. In Madison they did a CT scan where they found a brain bleed. Tony was then airlifted back to Avera-McKennen hospital.

Once back at Avera-McKennen, Tony continued to experience nausea. The Drs gave him more anti-nausea medications and continued to monitor for seizures. An EEG test and CT scan were ordered for Tuesday morning.

Tuesday morning Tony had double vision in his right eye and was still experiencing nausea. He had an EEG and CT. Tuesday Tony spent all day sleeping off and on, between vomiting.

Wednesday the EEG results confirmed seizure activity in Tony's brain. Tony was still experiencing nausea, but it was less frequent. Drs put Tony on an IV drip. They believed the brain bleed had stopped and it had now become a waiting game for the body to reabsorb the blood that had pooled in his skull.

Unfortunately, the results of the biopsy came back and Tony has Stage 4 Lung Cancer.

Tony is currently still at Avera-McKennen getting treatment and will be there through most likely Sunday August 10th. We will continue to update as Tony progresses through this journey.