Medical update.......

Deb here.......

We met with the surgeon today and Bill had his staples removed and the incision examined. We met with the oncologist last week to go over the new chemo treatment plan which should begin on 6/27. This round of chemo. is a much more aggressive treatment. At the initial meeting with the oncologist, he felt like the cancer cells "broke through" the original chemo. treatment, so now his plan is to try and outsmart the cells with a new approach.

Bill will have to take the new treatment via infusion, so this is in the office through an IV once a week every other week for about 2-4 hrs. for about 6 months. There are some side effects, but not every one applies to every single person, so we'll take them as/if they come. Bill's in such great health, in general, that both doctors feel this is a good plan going forward. The new treatment is a combination of Avastin and CPT-11, it's been in the news a lot lately because it's made some real progress is slowing or halting new growth - and both the oncologist and surgeon were excited about it.

Good news: Bill can now sleep on his back, and not so elevated as he had to just after the surgery. He can be a bit more active as well, so he's happy about that. They will be taking down his steroid dosage as well, so he's VERY happy about that, hopefully the puffiness he see in his face will start to go down and he won't be up at 3am every morning. We plan on meeting with the oncologist one more time before treatment, Bill still has some questions for him. We'll be doing a lot of lab work to watch a number of things and sound like a MRI every 2-3 months going forward.

I've got some great pictures of the scar on his head if anyone is interested in seeing what it looks like, I thought for the faint of heart it wouldn't be wise to post along with this entry.

Anyhow, we're all doing well - one day at a time. Logan wants to announce that he's officially and 8th grader today!!! Connor will officially be a Junior tomorrow. Thanks again to everyone who is out there and supportive. I was extremely moved to see all the entries from people I didn't even know still read the blog - so impressed. Bill's an amazing man, this I always knew, I'm glad people see it to!!! So - the next entry by Bill will no doubt be about baseball - please feel free to reach out to me directly if you have any questions.

Peace out,
Deb