Wednesday, October 29, 9 PM

Hi Again,

   Yesterday the Oncologist spent some time with us laying out a "road map" for future treatment options for Michele, based on the results of her spinal tap. Today the results came back from pathology. The amount of Lymphoma cells in Michele's spinal fluid is greatly reduced, but not eliminated. Progress, but not the end. This is not discouraging news. It means the treatment is going in the right direction, but will be adjusted accordingly.

  If Michele comes home tomorrow, she will go back for another PET scan on Friday. That will show what progress has been made on the tumor on her lymph nodes above her heart. The Oncologist is inclined to think the tumor is gone, but we want to know for sure, and the PET scan will do that. There are multiple contingencies in play here, so try not to get confused. If she comes home tomorrow, gets the PET scan Friday, then she will have another RCHOP treatment on Monday, November 3rd. If all of that occurs, a week later, November 10th, she will have a procedure where chemotherapy chemicals are injected directly into her spinal fluid to deliver a knockout punch to the remaining cancer there. Whew!  Good thing she is from tough German stock!

   Michele is still doing very well, even though she has had some trying moments. Most of the annoyance in the hospital stems from the fact that there is nothing to do but observe the failures of the staff. It effects me as well while I am there. The patient and family is there because of high priority circumstances in their (our) lives, so there is an expectation that alarms will be responded to immediately, medications will be given on time, meal orders will actually arrive, etc. But the staff works there, spending most of their lives waiting on sick people. They have a pretty good handle on which one of their patients is close to death, and which ones can wait ten minutes. Reminding ourselves of that when we are the ones waiting is often difficult. Please notice that I include myself in that assessment, because I'm the annoying family member who goes to the front desk to see what the holdup is.

  Bottom line is that the hospital staff is as attentive as they can be, but Michele is ready to come home. Please pray to that end, if the Lord should see fit. We will continue to report events as they unfold, just like Huntley and  Brinkley. If you don't know who that is, you're too young :-)

 

With love,

Tim and Michele