Fun times with family in Boston

We all had a great time last week seeing some of the sites. Gary, Peggy, Colt and Karissa came up to Boston to spend time with Heath. Gary, Peggy and Karissa flew up on Wednesday; Colt and I flew up on Thursday.

We started off going to the Boston Museum of Science. Here are a couple of pictures.


This is a picture of us all while we were waiting to go on the Duck Tour, where we saw parts of Boston by land and by river in an old World War II amphibious landing vehicle. Karissa and Allen got to drive for awhile.

Here are some pictures at the New England Aquarium.

Prayers needed for Heath and Jonah

Heath has been doing ok lately but has had some problems since his last chemo. His blood counts were so bad that he had two different days where he had to get blood and platelet transfusions. He was very weak for several days and didn't have much energy to do anything. He is also having severe pains in his right foot. The doctor says that it is probably caused by inflammation from his radiation treatments but we are not completely sure what is causing the pain. They want to start him back on pain meds to try and get the pain under control. He is still getting daily Proton radiation treatments. He may start his next round of chemo on Friday or Saturday. Please continue to pray for healing and strength for Heath.

We found out that Dave and Patty's grandson Jonah was diagnose with leukemia. Jonah is 11 years old. Heath knows Jonah from when Heath worked at Kings Kids. Jonah already had surgery to put in a port and to do a spinal tap. He started chemo treatments which will continue for at least two years. Please pray for Jonah's family, Jonah's doctors and specifically for Jonah as he goes through his treatments.

Boston pictures

Here are a couple of pictures from Mass General when they organized trick or treat for the kids on Ellison 18.

Above we have Heath as the "Mask" and Allen as a big "Hotdog".

Below is a group shot of the kids during their trick or treat tour. They had it very well organized and it was great to see the kids having a good time.

Below is a picture from the hospital and from the apartment, respectively.

Proton Treatments started on 11/02/06

Heath started his Proton Radiation treatments today. He will get a total of 29 treatments. This is why he is in Boston so let's pray that these treatments completely kill his tumor in his sacrum.

Heath finished his Photon Radiation treatments on Wednesday, November 1st. He had 10 treatments. His treatments were scheduled for 4:20PM every day but the staff at Mass General in the Cox Building was very helpful and changed Heath's schedule to help him get done with the chemo earlier. Mass General, just like Moffitt, is a wonderful hospital and we are very glad to be there.

Heath finished his first of two rounds of chemo that he will get in Boston on Monday night and was released from Mass General on Tuesday afternoon. He seemed to tolerate this round fairly well. We'll know in the next 2 weeks how his blood counts hold up and when they can schedule him for the next round of chemo.

Tuesday was Halloween so Mass General Ellison 18 (that's the pediatric floor that Heath was on) organized a trick or treat tour of Mass General for the kids on the floor. It ended with a pizza party where they fed us lunch. Heath and Allen had a good time and yes they were in custom. I'll post some pictures later when I get them.

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.