Heath had an appointment at Moffitt on Monday. Karis, Allen and Bonnie (Karis' stepmom) accompanied him.
Heath's platelets were still a little low but the doctors all agreed that it was safe for him to get a three day round of IFOS/ETOP with one day of mesna at the end. After this round, Heath will have only one more round like this and he will be finished.
This worked out very well as far as the timing because Heath wanted to play Tigerfest before his next round. His band will be playing at Tigerfest on Saturday night, 2/24/07, at Palmetto High School. There will be several other bands playing that night from 4PM to 9PM. Tickets are $5 in advance and $7 at the door.
Come see Heath's new haircut. He's had such a long break that he has hair now, and yes he did get a haircut today. If you can't make it, don't worry I will definitely have some pictures to post.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Scans done and more chemo scheduled
Karis took Heath up to Moffitt last Friday. Heath had an MRI scan and a PET scan.
We met with Dr. Agresta yesterday to go over the scans, to talk about the next round of chemo and to do labs and check his blood counts. He said the scans looked great and there was no activity on the tumor, meaning it appears completely dead. He did say that he needs to go over both scans with the radiologist but from what he could see they looked very good. Also, his blood counts are in great shape. Last time they checked his blood counts, a couple weeks ago, his platelets were still low.
He wants to go over the exact amounts of chemo that Heath has already had before he makes a final decision but he thinks Heath will only need two more rounds of the ifos/etop/mesna. He did imply that he will probably be in for up to 5 days for each.
One funny thing happened during the appointment. Before Dr. Agresta came in, his nurse practitioner came in to talk to us and get to know us a little before Dr. Agresta came in. At one point she asked Heath what he does with his free time. He smiled and looked at me and I laughed and said "she asked so show her". He got on the computer and went to his latest video on youtube "Pretty Women" and started it, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSv3aGkDBxo. She laughed all the way through it. She wanted the link to all the videos and said she would show it to everyone. Heath got a big kick out of that. One thing Heath has mentioned is he thinks he can be an inspiration to other cancer patients "when they see what this kid with cancer is doing while he is going through his fight with cancer".
Thanks and keep praying
We met with Dr. Agresta yesterday to go over the scans, to talk about the next round of chemo and to do labs and check his blood counts. He said the scans looked great and there was no activity on the tumor, meaning it appears completely dead. He did say that he needs to go over both scans with the radiologist but from what he could see they looked very good. Also, his blood counts are in great shape. Last time they checked his blood counts, a couple weeks ago, his platelets were still low.
He wants to go over the exact amounts of chemo that Heath has already had before he makes a final decision but he thinks Heath will only need two more rounds of the ifos/etop/mesna. He did imply that he will probably be in for up to 5 days for each.
One funny thing happened during the appointment. Before Dr. Agresta came in, his nurse practitioner came in to talk to us and get to know us a little before Dr. Agresta came in. At one point she asked Heath what he does with his free time. He smiled and looked at me and I laughed and said "she asked so show her". He got on the computer and went to his latest video on youtube "Pretty Women" and started it, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSv3aGkDBxo. She laughed all the way through it. She wanted the link to all the videos and said she would show it to everyone. Heath got a big kick out of that. One thing Heath has mentioned is he thinks he can be an inspiration to other cancer patients "when they see what this kid with cancer is doing while he is going through his fight with cancer".
Thanks and keep praying
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Heath and Allen Productions
Heath's been back home for about a month now and he has been feeling pretty good. He is still having some leg pain and trouble sleeping but other than that he is doing great.
As a matter of fact, he's been also feeling very creative. Heath and Allen have been making videos and uploading them to youtube. All of these videos were created in less than one day and were filmed/edited/portrayed by none other than Heath and Allen.
This is a link to there youtube profile. They have made 5 short movies. Heath also made a skateboard video from some of his old videos. He wanted to do that because he can't skate anymore because of the cancer in his sacrum.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=sidthesloth11
These videos are absolutely hilarious. Take a look and rate them if you can. They are very talented and may be famous some day, seriously.
As a matter of fact, he's been also feeling very creative. Heath and Allen have been making videos and uploading them to youtube. All of these videos were created in less than one day and were filmed/edited/portrayed by none other than Heath and Allen.
This is a link to there youtube profile. They have made 5 short movies. Heath also made a skateboard video from some of his old videos. He wanted to do that because he can't skate anymore because of the cancer in his sacrum.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=sidthesloth11
These videos are absolutely hilarious. Take a look and rate them if you can. They are very talented and may be famous some day, seriously.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Coming Home on 12/22/06
Heath's Proton treatments were supposed to be done on Thursday, 12/14/06, but the machine was down for several days. Karis already had plane tickets to come home late Friday night. She talked to the doctors and they said that he needed all his treatments and skipping any of them could be very bad. Since she already had the tickets to come home and since we had several things planned on Saturday and since her husband missed them terribly and since the hospital was reimbursing them for the tickets back, they came home for the weekend.
Heath, Karis and Quinten flew back up on Monday and they will be back home for good on Friday, 12/22/06.
Heath's back is doing much better. It looked like he had 3rd degree burns in a 7 inch diameter circle where they are radiating him but it is healing very well from what Karis said. His blood counts are much better also. His platelets were still low today but they are going back up on their own so he didn't need any transfusions today.
We are very grateful for everyone's support in helping through this process and for the wonderful care Heath got at Mass General in Boston. Heath has 3 more months of chemo treatments back at Moffitt in Tampa. He should be cancer free at that point so keep praying for that outcome.
Heath, Karis and Quinten flew back up on Monday and they will be back home for good on Friday, 12/22/06.
Heath's back is doing much better. It looked like he had 3rd degree burns in a 7 inch diameter circle where they are radiating him but it is healing very well from what Karis said. His blood counts are much better also. His platelets were still low today but they are going back up on their own so he didn't need any transfusions today.
We are very grateful for everyone's support in helping through this process and for the wonderful care Heath got at Mass General in Boston. Heath has 3 more months of chemo treatments back at Moffitt in Tampa. He should be cancer free at that point so keep praying for that outcome.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Heath's blood counts are very low
Heath was at the hospital all day getting transfusions. They gave him 3 units of blood and 6 units of platelets. They are also trying to give him an extra boast because he will be traveling home Friday on a commercial airline. He was feeling awful before the transfusion but Karis said he felt much better afterwards.
Karis told me this morning that Heath's Proton treatment for today has been cancelled because the machine is down. Luckily they had an extra day on their schedule before they are flying home so it shouldn't be a problem. As you can guess, Heath is very much ready to come home.
Karis told me this morning that Heath's Proton treatment for today has been cancelled because the machine is down. Luckily they had an extra day on their schedule before they are flying home so it shouldn't be a problem. As you can guess, Heath is very much ready to come home.
Monday, December 4, 2006
Overdue Update
Sorry, I've been very busy but that's no excuse. Here's a quick update on Heath.
Heath went into Mass General last Thursday to start another round of chemo. This is the second round of Ifos/Etop that he has had in Boston. It kept getting delayed because his platelet count was too low. The radiation that he is getting is an area where there is a lot of bone marrow which is causing his counts to stay down and not recover. He was done with the chemo last night but they were going to keep him in the hospital until his radiation treatment today at around 1:30PM.
Heath has about 10 more radiation treatments and then he is finished. He should be home on the 15th and I know he is very ready to come home. This is one big step towards his cure. He will need more chemo at Moffitt but I'm not sure of the details. Keep praying for Heath's healing and that he is healthy enough to fly home on the 15th.
Also, Heath's grandmother was admitted to Manatee Memorial. I don't think they completely know what's wrong but keep her in your prayers as well.
Heath went into Mass General last Thursday to start another round of chemo. This is the second round of Ifos/Etop that he has had in Boston. It kept getting delayed because his platelet count was too low. The radiation that he is getting is an area where there is a lot of bone marrow which is causing his counts to stay down and not recover. He was done with the chemo last night but they were going to keep him in the hospital until his radiation treatment today at around 1:30PM.
Heath has about 10 more radiation treatments and then he is finished. He should be home on the 15th and I know he is very ready to come home. This is one big step towards his cure. He will need more chemo at Moffitt but I'm not sure of the details. Keep praying for Heath's healing and that he is healthy enough to fly home on the 15th.
Also, Heath's grandmother was admitted to Manatee Memorial. I don't think they completely know what's wrong but keep her in your prayers as well.
Saturday, November 18, 2006
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.
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.
