March 12 and 13 routine visit to MDAnderson.  Monday was travel day to Houston and Rusty had lab tests and a brain MRI in the late afternoon.  Afterwards we unwound at happy hour in the MDAnderson Rotary House....the singer was delightful!
   

Tuesday he had 5 appointments including more diagnostics, 2 doctor appointments and a chemo treatment.  Melanoma team is pleased with his condition at this point.  The mass on his back seems to be much smaller, presumably due to the chemo.  His blood count has improved and he has more energy and stamina.  We expect that to dip again 7 to 10 days after a chemo treatment, but he seems to be bouncing back nicely. 

Follow up appointment with the Gamma Knife radiation team which reports some swelling at the site of the August gamma knife procedure...not uncommon, according to the doc.  They will watch Rusty closely, do a repeat MRI in April, and treat with steroids if necessary.  They believe that it is "post-treatment" related and not new tumor growth.

Last appointment of the day was the final chemo treatment in this cycle.  In three weeks he will have CT scans to determine status of the cancers.  At that point, melanoma team will decide what comes next.

Rusty's primary melanoma physician, Dr. Rodabe Amaria, has been incredibly wonderful since we first met her 15 months ago.  Not only is she super smart, competent, and compassionate, Rusty trusts her completely.  She so "gets" Rusty...his humor, his intellect, his philosophy and his needs vis-a-vis this disease.  More than once she has commented favorably on his suspenders, which are a regular part of his attire.  At this visit he presented her with her very own pair of suspenders - Dr. Amaria beamed when she opened the package and there followed much laughter, joy and picture taking in the clinic.  It was a happy time...There truly are blessings in this journey!

We will return in three weeks for "staging" scans.  More then....