December 17th scheduled visit to MDAnderson - first leg of the trip, the ferry crossing at Port Aransas....if you look closely, you can see the dolphin surfacing near the middle of the photo.)

Very routine visit this time.  Lab work, regular visits with Neurology Team and Melanoma Team followed by immunotherapy infusion.  Lab results stable...still some anemia, (caused by bone marrow depression from the chemotherapy) which causes Rusty some fatigue and weakness, but it is slowly improving.   Both neurology and melanoma teams are pleased that Rusty is doing well.  Neurology team will see him again in three months and Melanoma team will continue to see him every 28 days to assess him for immunotherapy infusion. 

The clinics at MDAnderson compete for best Christmas Tree...this is the Infusion Therapy Clinic tree themed "Journey to Mars."

You probably heard last month that Jim Allison, Ph.D., an MDAnderson immunologist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine.  He is responsible for the development of immunotherapeutic agents which are now prolonging and saving the lives of many cancer patients, including Rusty.  MDAnderson is celebrating this humble scientist, and so are we!

We plan on staying in Houston for a few days to absorb some of the Houston Christmas culture, to spend a day with Cadge and Bob at the Houston Museum of Natural Science and to see the Houston Symphony production of The Messiah. 

We wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a Blessed New Year...our family and friends are truly  gifts in our lives, and we are sincerely grateful for each of you, your support and your love!

We arrived at MDAnderson in Houston on Sunday afternoon in preparation for labs, Brain MRI and  body CT scans on Monday.  On Tuesday Rusty saw the Melanoma team and got the results of the CT scans ... "stable...no definite evidence of progressive metastatic disease in the chest, abdomen or pelvis"!!!  WooHoo!!  The Melanoma team is feeling very positive about Rusty's status.

From there he had an appointment with the neuro-oncology radiologist who is managing the radiation necrosis in Rusty's brain.  The brain MRI  indicated that the inflammation is still decreasing and there is no evidence of recurrence of tumors and no new intracranial metastasis.  Once again... WooHoo!!

Rusty is still experiencing some involuntary twitching which the doc feels may indicate some very low level seizure activity, as well as some vision problems, short term memory loss and intermittent confusion.  These issues are considered "treatment related" (probably from the Gamma Knife radiation) but also may be related to Rusty's natural aging processes.  (Either way, it beats brain tumors!) He has a regular neurologist at MDAnderson who monitors these symptoms, and an ophthalmologist here in Corpus Christi to manage his vision.

After Rusty's regular immunotherapy infusion, we celebrated our good news with dinner at our favorite Italian Restaurant ...D'Amico's in Rice Village... and counted our blessings.

We're not too good with selfies to begin with, 

and a couple of glasses of spirits did not improve our photog skills!)

This MDAnderson visit was directly on the heels of two jewelry shows, the first on Friday at the Ortiz Center in Corpus Christi and the second on Saturday at Market Day in Hallettsville.  For both shows Rusty was almost back to his pre-cancer form - loading and unloading boxes, tables, displays and equipment and helping with sales.

We are immensely thankful for our many blessings - for health, for each other, for an amazing medical experience at MDAnderson, for our local primary physician, Dr. Gerry Boynton, for time, for faith, and always for the continued support, interest, help and love we receive from our family and friends.  Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving...we love you!   

   

October 23 visit to MDAnderson...we are reveling in these 28 day visit/trip intervals!  This visit was kind of a non-event.  No scans or testing other than routine labs and EKG - both of which were good.  The  Melanoma team is still pleased with Rusty's response to the immunotherapy.  He had his immunotherapy infusion after the visit with Melanoma team.  The infusion takes about 30 - 40 minutes and is administered in one of the Ambulatory Treatment Centers at MDAnderson - there are at least three such centers on the MDA campus. 

The Melanoma team feels that the minor confusion and processing problems Rusty is experiencing are due to last August's brain radiation, which was necessary to treat a growing brain tumor.  At the November visit he will have body scans and a brain MRI to assess status.  He will also see his radiation neuro-oncologist as well as the Melanoma team in November.

On our way up to the Melanoma Clinic we met and talked with a woman who is a 9 year survivor of stage four melanoma.  Rusty was very encouraged and up after hearing that.  He has an amazing will and is determined to make the most of each day. 

Last weekend one of Rusty's closest Marine Corps friends and his wife from our Yuma Arizona days came from Chicago to spend the weekend with us.  We had a wonderful weekend - lots of reminiscing, laughing, and a few Shiners.  Pictures below of Mike and Marsha as well as Rusty with all his hair and beard grown back.

Thanks again for all your support, love and prayers.  We both agree that we are blessed on this journey.

 

On the heels of two glorious weeks in the Pacific Northwest, we flew directly from Seattle to MDAnderson Houston for Rusty's regular monthly visit.  He had scans on Monday evening and visit with neurologist, visit with Melanoma team and labs on Tuesday.  The news is very good!

Scans show that there are no longer any tumors visible in Rusty's organs!  It seems that the immunotherapy is being effective in attacking the melanoma.  We were told that it could take over a year for the immunotherapy to ramp up and become effective - and so it has.  There are a couple of small, shrinking visible tumors in soft tissue, but Dr. Amaria (Rusty's primary Melanoma physician) is confident that they are not a problem...She is very pleased with the positive scan reports and plans to keep Rusty on the 28 day immunotherapy infusion schedule for the foreseeable future.

Cannot even start to express our gratitude ...to God, to Rusty's medical providers, and to all of you for your support, prayers and love.

More next month after our October visit.



 

After a lunch visit with Cadge and Bob in Richmond, we arrived in Houston for Rusty's regular monthly MDAnderson visit on Monday afternoon.  Lakeview RV Resort, where we stay, has a free shuttle that runs about every 1 1/2 in the morning and stops at all the major institutions in the Medical Center...it is a great benefit of this RV park since it relieves us of having to battle Houston morning traffic and saves us parking costs.

Waiting for the shuttle

Other than routine labs, which results "look good", Rusty had no other diagnostics on this visit.  He met with the melanoma team, including Dr. Amaria, and they were positive in their assessments and comments.  He was cleared for his immunotherapy infusion and heartily encouraged to undertake the travel we are planning for later in the month.  We are planning a trip to the Pacific Northwest to visit John and Tracy, Jacob and Jess, and our great grand, Julian Austin (Jude), who is now 15 months old.  We also plan to spend some time exploring the area.

Finishing up Tuesday's infusion

We return in a month for scans, team visit and treatment.  At that point it will have been 21 months since Rusty's dire diagnosis - we still feel incredibly blessed, still treasure every day, and are so grateful for the support, caring, understanding, and prayers of all of you.   

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.