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'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.

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.

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.