When you choose hope, anything is possible

Hi All,

We hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Our hearts were sure pumping, as we received new PET scan results.

Dad has made amazing strides since his diagnosis almost one year ago. We have turned heads with the success of his treatment, with our family's positive outlook, and with our very strong group of supporters.

It fills my heart to share with you amazing news, I never want to share with you tough news, today I'm sharing with you simply, news. The PET scan shows the tumor has changes shape a bit. It's smaller on one side, but bigger on the other and it's uptake level has increased. Maybe the tumor threw in a fresh shovel of coal, but we're gonna put out it's flame!

Doctor Levitz, who is an absolutely charm, thinks we stayed too long on the last chemo regimen and this scan tells us we need to change things up a bit. His suggestion was to switch to VP16 (Etoposide), but after discussing with his team, the decision was Navelbine, the treatment would only take 30 minutes, 1 time a week and we were set to start right after our meeting.

Unfortunately, we learned that Navelbine and Dad don't get along. Shortly after the treatment started, Dad had a reaction to the drug. I won't go into details, but the staff and Dr. Levitz acted quick and together to help relieve him. Dr. Levitz sat with Dad the whole time, like I said, he's a gem. What I found interesting, is that the reaction was proof that the drug went straight to the tumor and went right to work. Doc said what Dad felt was cancer cells being destroyed. Perhaps that means the uptake level decreased. I'll believe it. The next course of action will be to start Dad on VP16 Tuesday.

Okay, so where do we go from here? Forward! Dad is wearing a bracelet that reads, "When you choose hope, anything is possible." With his pain meds finally in order and a new attack plan on the tumor, we're still going to move this mountain.

Thank you everyone, over and over for your support, your prayers, your energy braids! The end of this month we will pass our first year since Dad's diagnosis, and I think my Dad deserves a standing ovation for his courage and strength, not only for himself, but for all of us who stand with him. What a guy!

Love to all.

Keri

(peaceofkeri@gmail.com)