CT Results

This past week has been a bit overwhelming with Erika's funeral last Saturday, Adrienne's scans and checkups this week, and some other things here at home.

Erika's service was lovely and we enjoyed seeing people we hadn't seen since our move. It was wonderful to see so many people there. It seems strange to be happy at one moment and so sad the next. Chris posted lots of pictures of he and Erika over the last several years at: http://flickr.com/photos/cmaxwell/sets/, including pictures of when she was healthy.

Adrienne had her CT yesterday and, as we expected, she's had some progression of her disease. The largest node is now 2.2 cm in her lung. The node in her spleen is 1.8 cm and the other node near her liver is unchanged at 1.4 cm. The CT doesn't show what's happening in the bone but Adrienne doesn't have any pain there. Given Adrienne's recent itching, we're just relieved that there wasn't more progression. The doctor would like to increase her dose of valproic acid. If there isn't a response in the next month or if her symptoms progress, she'll start on chemo every other week. We know that the valproic acid takes time to work, typically 2 to 3 months, so we don't want to panic just yet.

Adrienne has been having trouble with her port and it won't draw blood now. They tried TPA yesterday, which didn't work. She'll go back to City of Hope this afternoon to give it another try. She is definitely feeling the pressure of doctor's visits and travel along with her Kravis work and school, but getting the port to work is a high priority. If they can't fix it, she'll need another surgery to remove it and place a new one.

On the home front, Curt has a 2 cm nodule on his thyroid. He has a biopsy the week after next since he's out of town for business next week. Chances are this is benign and there is a history of goiters in his family but it's one more thing on the big plate of things.