Back from Boston

Hello Everyone -

In general, I don't visit blogs and have resisted starting this one. There are so many of you who care about Rick and have called and e-mailed to let us know you are thinking of us. We are truly honored and supported by your good wishes. We wanted an efficient way to let everyone know what is happening. However, Rick loves getting your phone calls and e-mails. He is energized by his visits with people - and so I encourage you to keep checking in with him from time to time. This blog is just a way for us to let you know what is going on.

We flew to Boston last Sunday. Rick's sister Suzi and her husband Timm met us at the airport and spent the week sitting in waiting rooms and clinics with us. Rick had additional tests on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. (We are joking that Rick now glows in the dark.) We met with Dr. Sugarbaker and his team on Tuesday and they feel that Rick is an excellent candidate for a successful surgery. Dr. Sugarbaker said that he felt very confident that they could remove all the mesothelioma from Rick's pleura and there is a possibility that they can save his left lung.

Rick had a biopsy of some lymph nodes near the lung on Friday and they used a camera to examine his lungs at the same time. If there is meso in the lungs, it glitters. (The resident told Rick that although he wasn't supposed to say anything, the scope looked very good.) The results from the biopsy will be back by the end of this coming week. If they find no meso in the lymph nodes, then we will be scheduled for surgery (in Boston) in about two weeks. If there is lymph involvement, he will have a few rounds of chemotherapy and then we will return to Boston for the surgery. Until we have the results, we don't know what the time schedule will be. Pray for no lymph involvement.

In general, people are in the hospital from 7 to 14 days after surgery, although they have had people stay in hospital for up to 4 weeks. Then we will need to stay in Boston near the hospital for 4 to 6 weeks. The people there have been very helpful at giving us lists of where to stay.

Then we will be back in Tucson for chemotherapy. Often radiation is part of this process, but no one talked about radiation when we met with the team.

It was a very positive visit and we all left feeling extremely hopeful. We will let you know the results of the biopsy when we learn them. Again, thank you all for the support and good wishes.

Sue