Regular visit to MDA today for blood tests and immunotherapy infusion.  Melanoma team including doctor sawRusty today to monitor mass in neck/shoulder.  They have rescheduled body scans and MRI to Monday July 31.  According to Dr. Amaria and the team, they can make no plans for dealing with this new tumor untill the scans and MRI are complete.  They hope to have a plan for Rusty after reviewing all the tests.

We seem to have hit on a medication regeime that keeps Rusty more comfortable and in less pain, and the team suggested that we increase the dosage of pain med if needed.

We flew up to Houston this morning and are now in the airport waiting to fly home and Rusty has had his best day in a long time....relatively pain free and sporting some of his old energy and irreverence.  We'll be back up here in 6 days and will update you then.

Thanks for all your messages, calls, prayers and good vibes!

Many thanks to all of you for your supportive, encouraging, loving messages is response to these posts.  We both feel connected, and lifted up.

Today's biopsy was not good news.  The preliminary pathology report on the mass in Rusty's shoulder/neck is that it is a new melanoma.  Of course, the melanoma physician is concerned that the treatment is no longer working.  They are moving up the date for the whole body scans and tests that were due in August...we are waiting for rescheduled dates.  After those tests we will know how they recommend for Rusty to proceed.

We had been planning on spending a week at John and Tracy's in Washington State the last week of July...we will postpone that visit pending treatment plans.

Rusty is having some pain in his neck and shoulder and is looking forward to the stepped up scans so we can have a more complete, accurate picture of the disease situation.  He is adamant that we will do the Kerrville show as planned, so tomorrow morning we leave for Kerrville.  Nurse Ratchet concedes.

Will continue to keep you updated as things unfold.  

New wrinkle this time...after complaining about what he thought was a muscle strain in his shoulder for a few days, we noticed on the evening of July 3 that Rusty had a swollen area on his left shoulder at the base of his neck.  Saw our local doc and he communicated with Melanoma doc in Houston.   She advised that Rusty be seen by her at his regular two week appointment on July 11.

Today was that appointment and the team feels that the swollen lump is either a new melanoma or an inflammatory response to the medications Rusty is on.  A biopsy will be definitive and Rusty is scheduled for the ultrasound biopsy on Thursday, July 13. It should take 2 or 3 days for results.  Rusty has been having increasing discomfort  and dull pain at the site and they prescribed a pain med.  Today he had his immunotherapy infusion as usual.

We have been advised to just go home after the biopsy on Thursday rather than wait here for the results of the biopsy.  We had tentatively planned on doing a two day show at a Summer Market in Kerrville in the Hill Country.  Rusty still wants to do that...to leave here Thursday afternoon and go directly to Kerrville.  We packed for such an eventuality, but we'll see how Rusty's feeling.  Nurse Ratchet (me) gets the final say....sometimes...

Photos are back at the camper after a long day.