On Monday and Tuesday, Aug 13 and 14 Rusty had interim appointments at MDAnderson to assess the status of the brain lesion that was problematic after the gamma knife surgery.  The lesion was treated with a potent infused drug over two months in April and May.  Yesterday (Monday) he had labs and a brain MRI,  and today (Tuesday) we saw the neuro-oncology radiation team. 

Good news.  The lesion has stablized and there is no new necrosis or inflammation.  While the tumor that was irradiated is still present, it is "dead".  The team feels that Rusty has improved in his appearance and his cognitive and motor competencies, and they are happy with his status.  They will check him again in two or three months. 

In the meantime he is getting physical therapy three times a week to help with balance and stamina.  The therapy seems to be helping, although Rusty is impatient and wants much faster results!  As if all of this were not enough, he had some major dental work here last week for problems under two old crowns...it went smoothly and was relatively painless, thank goodness.  He will get his new crowns next week.

We return to MDAnderson at the end of August for appointments with the Melanoma team and an immunotherapy infusion. 

We're feeling very blessed, grateful and happy with the today's news.  Thank you for the prayers, love, support and good wishes!       

  

At the RV Resort pool after a day at MDAnderson Cancer Center

It has been a month since our last visit to MDAnderson, and the time at home without Houston travel was lovely.  We gave it our best effort but were unable to catch up on all the neglected yard work and house maintenance...fun trying though!  We did catch up on visits with family, friends and local activities.

Today's MDAnderson visit was positive again.  Lab work good, melanoma team and doc happy with Rusty's improving condition, and immunotherapy infusion without problem.  The mediport Rusty now sports means that he does not have to have venipunctures for lab work and infusions...he is thrilled with the "no stick" program!

Finished early enough today to rest and relax at the RV park before heading home tomorrow.

A bright spot in our travel back to Corpus Christi tomorrow will be a stop in Richmond for a visit with My nursing school roommate, Cadge Morley, and her husband Bob.  They have just moved from Tennessee to Richmond, Texas where they will be closer to their daughter Karen and her family. 

We'll be back up here in two weeks for another follow up with the neuro-oncology radiation team who performed Rusty's Gamma Knife surgery last August.  After that, Rusty's visits are expected to be monthly.

 

Written on Tuesday afternoon...

After a grueling nine hour trip over to Houston Monday, the gods of cosmic justice repaid Rusty with GOOD NEWS yesterday!  His CT scan revealed that all tumors have again decreased and some that were visible three months ago have are now not visible!

Our trip over was complicated by a two and a half  hour delay getting out of Corpus Christi while a tractor trailer accident on the Nueces Bay Causeway was cleared, and then again by three restroom breaks, a lunch break and a gas stop.  We got into the RV park and started setting up the cords, hoses, etc. at about 8:30 PM...

Tuiesday's early morning labs, CT scan and medi-port evaluation all went smoothly.  Visit with melanoma team was a real upper!  They related the improved CT results, commented favorably on the lab results and told us that their plan now is to see Rusty only once a month now for evaluation and a maintenance “Opdivo” (Nivolumab) immunotherapy infusion.

Celebrating welcome news with a sinful lunch at the Rotary House

Rusty is also to start physical therapy at home to work on balance and stamina.  We have a good friend in Corpus who is a wonderful therapist, so he’s looking forward to the therapy.  He is still having periods of confusion and short term memory loss, but they are less frequent.

All the worrisome issues from last visit are in resolution.  The cardiology diagnostics were unremarkable, and our local prinary doc, Dr. Boynton, is managing the blood pressure and fluid retention problems which are most likely a result of some of the chemo Rusty has received.  Blood counts are slowly returning to normal, and his hair and beard are starting to grow back!

Today was the first immunotherapy infusion of this regime and we are on the infusion unit as I write this.  Rusty is catching up on some z’s and I’m just resting from doing my happy dance!

We had hoped to go to the Houston Symphony Independence Day concert in the Woodlands this evening, but it's been a busy 12 hour day with appointments and we are both feeling the need for a quiet evening and an early bedtime.  Home tomorrow and back in a month...praise God!

Good news and bad news on our visits to MDAnderson yesterday...

The brain MRI Tuesday morning showed that the necrosis in the brain has all but disappeared.  The neuro-oncology radiation team is very happy with Rusty's response to the infusions of Avastin.  They will check him again in six weeks.

Blood pressure was very high at each clinic visit today, he is a little short of breath and is retaining some fluid, so the melanoma team recommended cardiology evaluation and echocardiogram. Rusty has a cardiologist in Corpus, so we will follow up with him.

Blood count is almost back to normal, but chemo infusion was cancelled today because of low platelet count.  They plan on starting maintenance treatment infusions with immunotherapeutic agent in three weeks.  At that time they also plan to do "staging" scans...scans which reveal the extent of melanoma remaining in the body.

Thursday morning, Rusty will have a "port" inserted into his upper chest, locally at a Corpus Christi hospital.  The port will allow infusions and medications to be given intravenously without the need to start an IV in a vein each time...medical personnel will simply access the port.

We celebrated my birthday with lunch today on the way home from Houston...Baytown Seafood in Van Vleck - yum. 

We will be back in Houston in three weeks...just in time to celebrate July 4th on the road!

NASA display in the Pavilion Lobby at MDAnderson

We traveled to Houston from Hallettsville on Sunday, after doing a good Hallettsville Market Day on Saturday. Monday was a day off at the RV resort in Houston...we did some world class vegging.

Today, after lab work and IV start, we saw Dr. Amaria, Rusty's primary Melanoma physician.  He was cleared to have his final infusion of Avastin, the drug to treat the radiation necrosis in the brain, and otherwise she said that Rusty "looks good".  The plan at this point is to do a brain MRI in three weeks and to see Dr. Chung, the radiation neuro-oncologist to evaluate the the success of the four Avastin infusions in treating the necrosis.

Dr Amaria also plans to see him on that day (June 12), and will make a determination about additional chemo treatments with Abraxane, a chemotherapeutic agent used to treat melanoma.  The infusion was given...took about an hour...and we did a little shopping, then back to the trailer where Rusty crashed at 8 PM....he's always tired after these days of walking, waiting, and getting stuck.

In general, he feels pretty good.  He does tire easily in the hot weather, but is able to do repairs around the house, take care of the yard, truck, car and trailer and to help around the house.  He has times of confusion and memory lapses which we attribute to "chemo brain", a somewhat common, temporary condition of many folks being treated with chemotherapeutic agents.  Rusty gets frustrated by that and by the fact that, since he had a seizure in April, he is restricted from driving for six months, but his attitude is mostly positive.

Headed home tomorrow morning. No pix this time,....I forgot to shoot some...sorry.   We'll be back in three weeks.  Keep storming heaven with prayers for us (in the words of Ruth Baltz.)...and thanks.

First, we want to thank our next door neighbor, Max Britton, for voluntarily taking care of our yards when we are out of town!  A true good neighbor and a great help to us. 

On Saturday, Cinco de Mayo, we did our regular gig at the Wimberley Market and had an active sales day.

We took a day off Sunday in Wimberley before heading over to Houston on Monday.

Sugar Shack Bakery after church on Sunday 

Entrance to Mr. McDonald's farm on Green Acres Road in Wimberley

After our Monday trip over to Houston, we started appointments early Tuesday, and had lab work followed by infusion of the drug to treat the necrotic brain lesion...uneventful day.  We were through by noon on Tuesday and returned to Corpus Christi that afternoon.  Rusty is feeling good and is less fatigued.  We return to MDAnderson in two weeks and will see the melanoma team then.  Please keep us in your prayers.

We traveled back into Houston from Galveston yesterday.  Today (Tuesday) after lab tests, Rusty met with the Melanoma team.  At this point they feel that Rusty is stable.  They are pleased with lab results and plan to administer one more infusion of the chemo targeting the melanoma.  There will be three more infusions of the drug targeting the necrosis in the brain.  The primary melanoma doc, Dr. Amaria, feels that she does not need to see Rusty now for a month, however he will come back in two weeks for labs and chemo treatment.

We had a restful, if chilly, few days in Galveston.  No beach weather, but in addition to vegging out, we visited some of our old Galveston haunts.  Jeff received his undergraduate degree from Texas A&M Galveston, and little has changed since the mid 90's.  We explored the Galveston Island State Park,  visited Moody Gardens, visited the 21 Ave. Pier, and took the ferry to Bolivar Peninsula for the day.

Mary Goering,  our dear artist friend, and her husband Homer were in town doing a show at Galveston "Featherfest", so we got to visit and break bread with them a couple of times.  I've posted a few Galveston pics below - every trip and every adventure are a blessing.