Update from Boston

Heath is going to start Etoposide/Ifosfamide chemo today. This is the first of two rounds that he will get while in Boston.

They are going to administer it a little different here than they did at Moffitt for a couple of reasons. First, he will get a lower dose due to the fact that he is getting Photon radiation which can affect the bone marrow slightly and put him at more risk with his blood counts. Second, they will give both types of chemo to him at a high rate over one hour for each instead of a high rate on the Etoposide and continuous over 23 hours on the Ifosfamide/Mesna. The reason is because they have to give him Mesna to keep the Ifosfamide from damaging his bladder and the Mesna is considered a heavy metal. Since Heath is getting radiation, they need to make sure there is no Mesna in the radiation field during his Photon treatment because it could cause the radiation to scatter which would cause undesired results. Therefore they will not give him any Mesna for an hour or two before he gets his Photon treatment. Also, Heath was having bladder pains a couple of days ago. They have done two urine tests on him and he appears to be ok to proceed but we will be keeping a very close eye on any symptoms related to bladder pain.

Mass General Hospital and ConquerCancer.org

This hospital seems like a great hospital. Every one we talk to up here speaks very highly of it and says we are in the right place. After getting the awesome treatment at Moffitt, our standards are very high now but Mass General, the employees and the other people we have met here are very nice and professional.

We did meet a very nice lady, Susan Zuker, while we were waiting for Heath's appointment on Thursday. Her husband passed away from lung cancer 3 years ago. Her and her two sons wanted to do something to honor his life and his battle with cancer. They did it in a big way. They created their own Massachusetts license plate and founded the Conquer Cancer Coalition of Massachusetts, which receives proceeds from sales of the plates. It is a local nonprofit organization that works in all capacities to conquer all forms of cancer. She said it took a couple years but they got it done. She also reached out to us in a very nice way and gave us a place to go spend the day and have a good time during our stay in Boston. Also, she was there because her mom currently has lung cancer. Her last treatment is Monday. Her cancer was caught early and she is doing fine. I am very glad that our appointment was at 3PM that day. Ironically, it is 6:20PM for the other nine treatments.

Here is a link to their website, www.conquercancer.org. Check it out.

This might be something we can do in Florida with the help of one of Heath's relatives. What do you think Ken? We already told Dr. Agresta that we would like to do something in the future to help out with the foundation that he started. This could be one of those things.

Please continue to keep Heath and his doctors in your prayers as well as Susan's mother.

Arrived in Boston

We arrived safely in Boston on Tuesday. We are very comfortable in our apartment.

The doctors told us previously that Heath will be getting Proton treatments as well as Photon treatments.

On Wednesday, Heath had blood labs and a simulation appointment. The blood labs showed that he has recovered very well and is ready to start chemo as soon as we can schedule it. The simulation was for the Photon treatments that will be given previous to the Proton treatments. The doctors had told us that Heath will be getting Proton treatments as well as Photon treatments but we weren't sure of the details until now.

On Thursday, Heath had his first Photon treatment. The Photon treatment is a high intensity x-ray.

Heath is scheduled for 9 more Photon treatments which are given Monday through Friday. The remaining Photon appointments are at 6:20PM. On November 2, he will start the first of 29 Proton treatments which are also given Monday through Friday. Heath will get 2 rounds of Etoposide/Ifosfamide chemo somewhere in between but they are not scheduled as of now.

We are supposed to meet with Dr. DeLaney once a week while we are here. Dr. Ebb is his Oncology doctor.

That's it to now.

Karis's dad Bill Eckley passed away this morning

I just talked to Karis and she told me that her dad passed away very peacefully this morning at approximately 10:40AM. She wanted me to mention that the family is doing well. Bill was an avid fisherman and they said he is catching his holy mackerel now.

Back to Boston

Heath, Allen and I will be flying back to Boston tomorrow morning. Karis is still in Ohio with her dad. Karis will be flying directly to Boston at a later date. Please continue to pray for Karis's dad and step mom, Bill and Bonnie, as well as the rest of the family. I will give you an update when Karis asks me to.

Quick Update on Karis and her dad Bill

We flew back home on 10/11/06. Heath is doing good. His blood counts are back to almost normal for now.

Karis had to fly back out at 8AM this morning, 10/12/06. Her dad Bill has not been well and is in ICU at a hospital in Detriot. I'm not sure of all the details but he is not doing well and the doctors are very concerned. Please keep Bill, Karis and the entire family in your prayers.

In Boston 10-4-06

We arrived in Boston on Wednesday after a quick flight. We took a short cab ride to the Holiday Inn right accross from Mass. General Hospital. After we got settled we took a short walk around downtown and had lunch at the original Cheers that the TV show was based on.

Thursday we got up early and had a good breakfast in the Mass General cafeteria. Then met with the doctors that are going to do the radiation therapy, Dr. DeLaney and his assistant Dr. Haglund. We were hoping that Heath would not need any chemo while we were up here so he could have a break but the doctors told us that he will need to get the Etoposide/Ifosfamide chemo along with the radiation therapy. He was very depressed about that at first but has accepted it at this point. We also asked them to check his blood counts and to scheduled a PET scan. He had a pelvic CT scan and they scheduled him for an MRI, a platelet infusion and a PET scan for Friday and two units of blood on Saturday. His blood counts came back and they were very bad so we spent the rest of the day in the hotel room.

Friday Karis and Heath went over early to get his MRI. I went over and met Karis before he finished his MRI. Then we went over to meet Heath's new Oncology doctor, Dr. Ebb. He spent a lot of time with us and he explained everything to use extremely well and made us feel very good about being here. They gave Heath one unit of platelets. After that they took another blood sample to check his counts. Then we went over to get the his PET scan. His blood counts came back and they were much better except for his hemoglobin. The two units of blood he will get on tomorrow should take care of that. Dr. Ebb said that his blood counts are good enough for us to go back into tourist mode tonight.

Karis has a realtor scheduled to pick us up at the hotel tonight to show us a place that we may rent for the eight stay. Heath wanted to go to the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown so we will probably have the realtor drop us off there and take a cab back to the hotel after dinner.

I have several more posts that I need to catch up on and I'll try and do that this weekend.

Thanks for reading and please keep praying for Heath and for the doctors that are caring for him. To quote Heath's sister Karissa, "God answers prayers, please pray for Heath".

Joy FM 20 Wishes

Bill and Carmen from Joy FM were at our house today to grant Heath a very special wish. Listen for Heath and Karis on Joy FM 88.1 to hear the story. I will post more details, links and pictures later.

Thank you Joy FM and Melody.