Scan results

Heath had CT scans with contrast this morning. He had to drink 3 big bottles of barium sulfate: one last night, one early this morning and one on the way to Moffitt this morning. He's been feeling nauseous from the chemo he had on Thursday and he was running a fever all weekend so drinking that stuff was not easy for him.

They were able to get a good look at what is going on now. The scans from March didn't show much because there was so much fluid in the right lung. Now we have a good scan to compare against in six weeks after he gets two more cycles (four rounds) of chemo. That should tell us if this protocol is working.

Today's scans showed two tumors. One on them was in the area that they spotted back in January and thought it could be scar tissue or a tumor. It was too small to do anything with at that time but it has grown to 3-4 cm. It is in the back part of the right lung. The second tumor is much larger and is located at the bottom of the right lung. They said that it is in the pleural lining and that it had grown inside by the bottom of the right lung and outside around the liver. The good thing is that this tumor is showing signs of necrosis (cell death) which could mean that the chemo is working. This is the tumor that caused the Pleural effusion.

Thanks for all the prayers. Keep praying that this chemo is working.

Links showing Heath playing with The U.C. Band

Heath has been playing with a great group of guys. The name of their band is The Under Construction Band or U.C. Band. These guys are all older (my age and up) and they have been playing together for a long time. They are also known as F-Troop.

Heath plays lead guitar. They have told me how amazed they are at Heath's talent and Heath loves playing with them because they really have a good time.

Here is a link showing Heath playing the National Anthem on April 11th at the Palmetto Relay For Life Cancer Walk. I filmed this on my little camera so the video is a little choppy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtuHT0FgswM

Here's a link showing video from later in the evening. The U.C. Band was playing Satisfaction. I started running out of memory so I was only able to catch part of some of the songs. I believe they played for a little over one hour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI7puyvC_Mg

2nd round of chemo has been completed

I discovered a new setting for this blog and now Karis can post here as well. I've gotten a little behind again so that should help me keep this blog up to date.


Here's the update:
On April 10th, Heath was given another round of the Gemcitabine chemo. That night he played a gig with his band, The U.C. Band, so he seemed to take it fairly ok. The next night he and his band played at the Palmetto Relay For Life Cancer Walk. I'll post more on that later.

One week later on April 17th he was supposed to get a round of Gemcitabine and Taxotere but his blood counts were too low so they delayed it for one week. Today he was given the Gemcitabine and Taxotere chemo. He had a reaction to the Taxotere which was also very scary because he thought he was having a stroke. They stopped the infusion for about 15 minutes and then continued it more slowly. They said it wasn't common but that it does happen sometimes. Next time they will start with a slower rate and then increase it as they go.

Next Thursday he will be getting more scans. This should give us some idea if the protocol is working or not. Please pray that the tumors are shrinking.

3-30-08 Update

Heath had another round of chemo on Thursday. Last week he got Gemcitabine. This week he got Gemcitabine and Taxotere. This round completed the first of six cycles. He will start the second cycle in two weeks.

He went and played with his band Thursday night after getting the chemo and had a good time. For those of you that don't know, he's an extremely talented musician and getting better all the time.

The Gemcitabine chemo seemed to make him a bit nauseous a couple days after getting it but it only lasted a couple days last time. He's feeling it today so hopefully it doesn't last long. He's also not sleeping very well because of the restless leg symdrome. His attitude is still very good.

That's all for now. Thanks for all the prayers.

Chemo went fine

It was a long day for Heath but everything went ok. They were able to access his port but that part was stressful. Keep praying that this chemo will remove the tumors completely.

Thanks for the thoughts and prayers.

Update on 3-15-08

Heath is recovering well and he is following a strict diet plan. His attitude is very good and he is eating and drinking what Karis is giving him. For the most part it's pretty good because she's done her research and is a very good cook.

The doctors at Moffitt and at Mass General meet every Thursday to discuss their cases. They have been in communication with each other and have agreed on how to proceed. Needless to say, that alone is a major stress relief.

He goes back to Moffitt next Wednesday for labs and has appointments with 2 different doctors. He will start chemo on Thursday. I didn't want to go into all the details of the treatment at this point but he will not have to be admitted because it is an outpatient protocol. It is also a protocol that has had proven results and not a clinical trial.

Keep praying for healing of Heath and guidance for us and the doctors.

Coming home today

His chest tubes were removed yesterday and he will be coming home today. His spirits are still very good and positive.

We will be meeting with the doctors early next week to discuss treatment. Please pray that the best decisions are made and the best treatments are available.

I will try and keep this blog updated next week since a lot is going on.

Thanks again.