Hi
there. Once again, Steve checking
in.
We’ve made it back from our first
Houston trip, but it’s almost time to head back down there. On Monday, Gabrielle got a call from the
coordinator that they were able to get a surgery date for the end of next week
on July 6, which is sooner than we expected.
All the tests look promising to allow her to be in the study. The CT scan not unexpectedly showed some
growth of the tumors in the liver, but happily that seems to be the main area
of concern. No new sites of metastasis.
Unfortunately,
she has to be in Houston on July 5 in the morning to meet with the
anesthesiologist, which means that she has to travel on the Fourth of
July. Daniel will be heading down there
with her this time. He got approval from
his residency director to allow him to take the time off, which is a huge
blessing.
This
trip is anticipated to take about 3-4 days: time to get the surgery, have a
couple of days recovery and then tentatively head home on Monday, July 9. Meanwhile, the sample of her tumor obtained
during surgery is going to be whisked away to some lab where they will isolate
and grow the lymphocytes. That process
takes about a month, which means that if all goes as planned, she will get an
infusion of said lymphocytes in early August.
So,
till then, it’s mainly a waiting game, trying to keep the pain under control,
which has not been easy. She has gotten
some new medicines to help with the pain, but it still wakes her up and is a
constant “companion”. Her appetite isn’t
very good so she forces herself to eat, but then that makes the pain worse…and
I don’t think it’s my cooking, though am not sure about that.
However,
even with the added pain medication, she is still a whiz at Scrabble, beating
me by 70 points yesterday. What’s my
excuse? None. I am not too proud to admit when I have met
my match.
So,
thanks as always for your prayers, support and encouragement during this cancer journey. I asked Gabrielle if she wanted to write this
blog post and she said she did, but then she got distracted and has her nose
buried in the Scrabble dictionary, furiously taking notes. Maybe I can pry the book from her hands
eventually.
Oh,
I tracked down one more picture from our recent trip to Houston. Here it is:
Texas, being the land of cowboys, oversized belt buckles and all the trappings that go with Western gear, I thought I would get in the spirit by getting my very own Stetson. I had to pay extra for the "Sheriff Dudley" badge, but I think it adds a nice touch to the hat, don't you?
As that ditty goes:
To Houston, to Houston to buy a hat that's big.
Home again, home again jiggety-jig!
Who knows what I'll come back with after the next trip! Leather chaps? Spurs? A Gene Autry sing-along book? You'll have to wait and see!
Signing off for now,
Sheriff Steve
God bless you all! I've been praying for Gabrielle's pain to be under control and for the treatment in Houston to be a huge success. Baby steps! Hang in there! My love & prayers to everyone! π✝️πππ¦πππΊπΈπ°⭐️π
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