We left Corpus Christi on Monday for Rusty’s March MDAnderson visit.  Good trip up with a bonus visit to Brazos Bend State Park for a picnic lunch.  

Just for a little added excitement, as we were parking the travel trailer at the RV Park, Rusty had a small motor seizure…first one in nine months…we know that these seizures happen as a result of the radiation to his brain, and they are not terribly serious, but Rusty was quite discouraged because the seizure resets the clock for his resuming driving.  Under Texas law, he must now wait at least six months to resume driving.  He has not driven since January of 2017 and it has been hard on him.

Spring is arriving in Houston

After routine lab work he saw both the melanoma team and the neuro-oncology team.  The melanoma team was pleased with his overall condition.  He will not have another set of scans until May.  This team must see him every month to assess whether his condition is stable enough for the monthly immunotherapy…as usual, he was approved for the infusion.

During the melanoma team exam, they did find that his pulse was extremely low.  Within minutes they had scheduled and completed an EKG, and found no heart problems – he was cleared for treatment.

The visit to the Neuro-oncology team was better than we expected.  The neuro-oncologist was not worried about the seizure, and, on examination, found that Rusty’s neuro status has improved since the last visit three months ago.  While he still has some bouts of confusion and memory loss, the episodes are shorter and fewer.  His left sided weakness is gone and his muscle strength is symmetrical and good.

Infusion was non-eventful, so we did a little happy dance leaving the Main Clinic.

We topped off the good day by meeting Cadge and Bob for Italian dinner at D’Amico’s to celebrate Bob’s birthday.  We are so blessed by good friends and we thank you all for your prayers, support and love.

Traveled to Houston on Sunday after John, Tracy and Joey departed for the plane trip back to Seattle.

Monday was a day of CT body scans, lab tests and an MRI of Rusty’s brain.  Tuesday included visits to the Melanoma team and the Radiation oncologist where in addition to regular exams, we heard the results from Monday’s tests.....Both gave us the BEST NEWS...tumors not visible and no new tumors!...they both used the word “stable” to describe the lack of tumor activity over the past six months.  Two small irregularities, one near a kidney and one in the brain are thought to probably be post treatment scar tissue.  BEST VALENTINES GIFT EVER!!!!  The disappearance of the tumors is attributed to the immunotherapy treatments Rusty has been receiving and will continue to receive every 28 days.

Blood work has improved significantly, and everyone is amazed at how well Rusty looks and acts. He is to start some leg strengthening exercises again in an attempt to improve his balance and stamina...not his favorite thing to do, but Nurse Ratchet is on it!  Still some periods of confusion and short term memory loss, but they are less frequent and the docs attribute it to “post treatment changes”.

After the clinic visits, Rusty had his immunotherapy infusion which takes about 45 minutes during which he usually snoozes.

We’re looking forward to a week in New Mexico with Patricia and Jim, and we’ll be back at MDAnderson on March 12 - just in time for the Houston Rodeo and Livestock show!

Waiting for shuttle to RV park after infusion

 

Rusty with Brian, one of our RV Park hosts

Spring is starting to show up Lakeview RV park

January visit to MDAnderson is in the books!  This month marks the two year anniversary of Rusty's dire diagnosis of malignant metastatic melanoma.  To see him now is proof of miracles! 

Our visit with the melanoma team on Tuesday was essentially a non-event.  Doctor Amaria said that he looks wonderful, and there are (in the physician's words) "no new lumps or bumps" and his lab work is "good."  Rusty will have "restaging" scans and an MRI next month....he gets them every three months.  After the routine immunotherapy infusion, we headed directly for our favorite Italian cafe, D'Amico's, to celebrate the positive visit.

I neglected to take any pix during this visit, so I'm posting a couple of photos from our recent glorious ten day RV trip to West Texas.

 
As always, we are sincerely grateful for your prayers, positive vibes, concern and love.  Many heartfelt thanks!

 

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.