2013, September 20

This week made more than 20 trips to the cancer center.  Leland has been a patient there for a full year, and what a difference it has made in his overall quality of life!  We were remembering this trip how very sick he was the first time we went, wondering if they would be able to give us any real help, wondering how it would all turn out.  I remember feeling how unreal this all was, walking into a cancer clinic with Leland,  hardly able to believe this was really happening, feeling really scared about starting chemo-even low dose, and unsure whether or not we were doing the right thing.  And yet, there seemed nothing else to do, no where else to go.  We had prayed earnestly that God would open and shut doors and lead us to an effective treatment;  this was the only door that opened.

 The previous treatment had clearly not worked at all, in fact it had allowed the cancer to spread considerably,  in spite of the assurances otherwise.

So now we know, this cancer will never be cured without a miracle.  However, a good partial
 remission has been achieved.  Meaning his quality of life is quite good in most respects, although he does seem to be experiencing an increasing lack of energy. The present  protocol he is on has  been  successful , so according to Dr. Chen and Dr. Sweet, we stay the course for now.  They are very pleased with his progress, Dr. Sweet calling him a "Poster Boy" for Integrative Care.

Lab test results were good, PSA slightly up from 4.5 to 4.52.  Dr. Sweet told us it is very usual for tumor makers to go up and down within a small range, so they are not yet concerned.  They are concerned enough about some new pain in his hip and leg to order another bone scan, which is entirely reasonable as it has been a year since the last one. We need to know whether the pain is being caused by arthritis (possibly from some of his meds), bursitis or the cancer.  That will be scheduled soon, within the next week or so, and when we get the results, I will post them here

We are once again in Portland with Cherilyn, Todd and Phoenix.  We have had the fun of looking after him again while his parents work.  He is such a joy, sitting up now, grabbing everything within reach of his little hands, smiling all the time, and laughing out loud when we play with him. Tomorrow we will take him to church with us, then in the late afternoon we will go to Mark and Tina's for dinner.  We will have our two grandsons together, so it will be a good opportunity for pictures, and a good family time.