Red Jello and Happy News!!!

Today was a big day for dad at MD Anderson just as every Monday is.  It's the day he gets hooked back up to chemo, gets his first zap of radiation for the week and he visits with his doctors. 

Here is dad receiving his chemo treatment and eating up some yummy red jello.  My dad has been loving red jello lately since he heard a story about it and also since he has used in a church talk.  Because I feel it my obligation to make fun of my dad whenever possible, I have been doing my best to carry on and on about red jello.  It's catching on I think.  So, here's a picture that mom snapped for me and sent on her blackberry...

Pretty much all doctors are notorious for making patients wait.  MD Anderson is no different.  Sure, they work like a well-oiled machine, but still it seems to take forever.  This is especially true as I expect my parents to be at my beckon call.  So, this is usually how I feel as I am waiting to hear what is going on with my parents...

...I'm an impatient gal as you can see...at times I can be described as a bit of an annoyer or one who enjoys pestering.  Pretty accurate I'd say.  Today was no different.  I was really worrying about today.  I think we all have been.  It was getting frustrating that dad wasn't able to keep food down and it was looking more and more like a feeding tube was inevitable.  But, much to our delight, the news from the doctors was AWESOME!

Dad got a PET scan done last week.  He is part of a study which has him doing more pet scans than are normally administered to patients.. This is excellent because it lets us see his progress more frequently.  Anyway, my dad gave me some specific information that he said I had to put down word for word... apparently he isn't the biggest fan of my creative speech as I am.  So here goes...

After two weeks and 9 of 28 radiation treatments and 9 of 25 chemotherapy treatments the head oncologist said, "The results are dramatic! Especially after nine treatments."  The nurse said, "Best report you could expect this early in the treatment. They're excellent!"    The tumor size is down 20% and the effected lymph node activity is down 25%.  There is no other indication of activity elsewhere including lymph nodes, liver, spleen, lungs and bones.

Translation for those of us that don't speak percentile---They've blasted that sucker so well that it is getting ever closer to destruction.  Since Dad is an over-achiever, he is ahead of the game and has already been brown-nosing the head oncologist and schmoozed himself into the likings of the nurses.   They must like him enough to deliver such a wonderful report card!  His grade thus far?  A+! 

So, fist bumps all around... it's a good day!!  This was best case scenario for us after just two weeks of chemotherapy and radiation so we are feeling pretty good at this point.