Saturday, September 12th

I've been trying to stay as positive as possible, but I was really expecting bad news yesterday. Fortunately, the news ended up being about as good as could be expected. The tumors (or lesions as the doctor calls them) had grown a lot between June and July, but after looking at the pictures from yesterday's MRI, they appear to be about the same now as they were in July, so the rapid growth seems to have been stopped. The bottom line is, we're going to start another round of chemo as soon as CVS/Caremark can ship me the next prescription of pills, and we're cautiously hopeful the trend will continue. The chemo pills are supposed to arrive next Tuesday, so I'll start Tuesday night. It's kind of a pain, but that's the way it works. Brian drove down from Minneapolis Thursday night, and along with Andy, joined Carole and me for the doctors' visits on Friday. I had an MRI, then met with the radiation oncologist and the chemo oncologist. It's always nice to have an extra set of ears listening to what doctors are saying (especially when we all heard the same thing) plus it's reassuring to have friendly faces in the room with you. It was a really exhausting day for me, but it wasn't as long as I thought it might be. The long-winded chemo doctor was actually not running as late as I thought he might be, and he offered some hope I didn't anticipate when he said the fatigue I'm experiencing in my legs may be related to the steroid I'm taking. He doesn't want to make any changes in the dosage while I'm starting the new round of chemo, but in a week or so, I think he'll try to wean me off of the steroid a mg at a time. Hopefully that will improve things with the fatigue.
After the doctor's visits, we made a stop at Whitey's for a malt, then Tory met us at The Vine where I had their Friday Fish & Chips special. Good stuff!
Thanks again to everyone for your sympathies regarding my father's death. Cards are still arriving almost daily. My family and I really appreciate your thoughts and concerns. Thanks also for your prayers for my health. I always knew they wouldn't hurt, but they seem to be helping!