Two weeks since our last visit.....hanging in there quite fine.

We spent the day at Dana Farber. Wednesdays are usually busy as it’s Jimmy Fund Brain Tumor Clinic day, and today was no exception. We also needed the monthly antibiotic and that adds an hour to the cycle, but he felt pretty good during the treatments, better than the last couple of times. Atavan orally and Zophram by IV seems to work well.

His exam was stable once again (“He looks really good!” from the PA). His blood counts and liver functions were stable and he had 100K platelets. That’s a positive since he started out with 347K when first diagnosed, and the number dropped to as low as 5K during early treatments. He’s been holding his own the last few sessions which is good news, since it’s a high enough number that we are able to increase the dosage of the Irinotecan at our next visit in two weeks.

He’s had a couple of headaches, some mild nausea, but only a few TIAs over the last couple of weeks. He’s been in school full time and doing very well, going to CCD, visiting family and friends, and pursuing all his hobbies and collections with vigor to say the least. He is remarkably unlike what you might expect after all this. He is 100% Ricky, and he’s loving life. Those of you whom have seen him know just what I mean.

Our journey continues……….please keep the prayers and good thoughts coming our way!

Update from 11/04 Dana Farber visit

Here are a couple of pictures from “Immigration night” at Rick’s school. He’s explaining his display about the Irish immigration and its affect on our country, and he’s with one of his favorite teachers, Jean English.



We learned on Tuesday that the TIAs are from the Moya Moya, not related to the tumor or the treatments. The doctors remain very impressed with the results of the chemotherapy and at this time, they wish to continue to treat the tumor, and hope that managing hydration and temperature changes can reduce the TIAs. It’s a trade-off, and we can only hope that Rick can get through this as well as the cancer. His brain is growing new capillaries to feed the affected area, and its possible this may work out. It’s also possible the Moya Moya could trigger a major stroke.

His exam was very good, and his platelets were 101K, white blood cell count was up as was his ANC. Except for some mild nausea, constipation and the TIAs, he is doing remarkably well. Weight was up and he’s missed very little school.

Interesting article on Avastin being fast tracked for brain cancer here: http://virtualtrials.com/news3.cfm?item=4419

Please keep the prayers and good thoughts coming.

Bill