OMG!!!!

The guys from work (NASA/Boeing/Lockheed) came over today and built a ramp for Kev. Check out the link to the blog for pictures etc. This is just incredible - you guys & gals are amazing! We are deeply touched. I don’t think we can express how much this means to us – THANK YOU!!!!

The new plan…
Yesterday morning the oncologists came in told us the new plan. It's always nice to have a plan, something to focus on for the short term – a plan is much better than just waiting. The experimental trial is full so we’ll need to wait for an opening. In the mean time we’ll restart the Temodar and start a new round of radiation. For the Temodar, Kev was on a 3 weeks on / 1 week off cycle, but now they want to do 6 weeks on / 2 weeks off. His tox levels are good so they decided it’s best to max him out and try to slow this thing down. The radiation is targeted at the T1/T2 area of the spine (up near the shoulder blades). This is really more of a preemptive treatment. The T11/T12 area is what is causing his present nerve damage problems, but this was radiated with max doses earlier this month. The T1/T2 area also has a significant amount of leptomeningeal disease (LMD) and spinal cord compression. The concern is if this gets worse then he’ll have nerve damage in the upper body too. So it was thought best to go after it now while we’re waiting for the trial to open. They are doing an “accelerated” treatment this time - higher dose (400 centigrays/day) for fewer (5) days. We also decided today to have Kev stay in-patient through Wed when he finishes up the radiation therapy. This was based mainly because his case manager needs to secure a hospital bed for home use for him and they want him to meet with a bowel specialist prior to release and neither of these ladies will be in until Tuesday (due to the holiday Monday). So it just seemed to make sense to stay in-patient through Wed.