Another day at Dana Farber

Rick was at the hospital for almost eight hours yesterday. His platelets remain about the same at 63K, which means we had to further dose reduce the Inrinatecan down to .50/sm, down from 1.25/sm where it started. The tradeoff is getting enough chemo to fight the tumor versus his clotting and immune system being clobbered.

He had a couple of what we think might have been mini-strokes last week that could be related to moi-moi syndrome, which is a condition where the arteries are smaller than they should be feeding the brain. Doctors have to revisit what the course of action will be, as this could be very serious. He can’t take aspirin daily which would be the standard protocol due to the Avastin, but if he ends up having a major stroke, it could be catastrophic. So another trade-off has to be made here too.

He got pretty nauseous at the hospital, on the way home and we had to leave dinner at the Chinese restaurant early. It was a pretty hard time, but he remains positive and upbeat. His fortune cookie read: "The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important." Certainly very meaningful words to keep in mind as we move forward.

Sometimes no news is good news.

Rick has continued to be stable in regards to his treatments and overall condition. His platelets remain pretty much the same at 62,000. We will most likely dose reduce the Irinatecan next week in the hopes of getting his numbers up. He’s feeling “great!” (his words) and enjoying summer to the fullest. We continue to be concerned about the risks of infection, stroke, seizure, hemorrhage and of course the tumor growing back.

These treatments are a balancing act and tradeoffs have to be made. We can only hope we are making the right choices.

Please keep the prayers and good thoughts coming our way.

Thank you!

Still doing well....

Rick is enjoying summer. We went to Vermont and then the White Mountain of New Hampshire and we had a great time.

He had his chemo last week and it went okay, we did have to decrease the dose of the Irenatecan again as his platelets are still under 100K, but he continues to tolerate the treatment well with no real side effects. He is full of energy and he is as quick mentally as he has ever been. He is starting summer school today and then a bike riding class.