Back home in Fort Worth

I received my Day 12 chemo treatment in Houston on Sunday, Nov 25th at MD Anderson. This was a quick 30 minute infusion which I seem to not have any side effects from at the present. This drug, Vincristine, is a commonly used chemo drug and one which I took while in the hospital last week with no apparent effects. After my treatment, we crawled in the car for our drive back to Fort Worth. This drive normally takes 4 hours, but on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, with all the traffic, it took 6 hrs. Sandra did a great job driving with no issues, but it made us realize how much we needed to get a local Oncologist to allow us to take chemo in Fort Worth.

To that end, we had an early appointment today (Mon 11/26) with a local Oncologist that came highly recommended. Our meeting with him (Dr. William Jordan, The Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, Fort Worth, TX) went great. He has treated many people with my type of Cancer and also was a fellow at MD Anderson for several years and knows my Dr. at MDA personally. This gives us the ability to take chemo and lab tests all locally, but continue to meet with Dr. Hagemeister at MDA for directing my staging, progress and any major changes in my treatment plan.

I do also have a follow-up MRI scheduled on Thursday to test for any additional inflammation in my brain which showed up on Thanksgiving at the hospital. This is still an outstanding issue that needs to be addressed, but may or may not be related. I should have the results by the end of the week.

My next chemo treatments will be Dec 6-9th in Fort Worth at Harris Methodist Downtown. I will be in the hospital during this time taking the chemo. Most chemos are given out-patient, but my chemos will all be in a hospital due to the fact that my body could have reactions and need to be closely monitored. We will then go to Houston for a re-staging and review with Dr. Hagemeister the week of Dec 17th.

I continue to gain more energy everyday and now that my schedule is now focused on treatments in Fort Worth, we will be less stressed about organizing our house and Daniel and pets while we are in Houston. This whole process continues to amaze me how things keep working out for us and I know that it is because of so many of you praying for us. Thanks for your support and encouragement on a daily basis.