Batting 1000.

We got 2 doctors within the same 30 min. They were on the unit at the same time and I think they even visited with each other! We had a good visit with each of them. The surgeon didn't change a whole lot. He is going to give some extra toradol in an effort to keep his pain level
more constant. Pain pills are working fairly well, but the toradol will help with any inflammatory discomfort. He will change his diet up a little tomorrow and foresees him going home on Sunday.

Dr. McCollum visited with us at length. He says that now that we are looking at longterm chemo that the regimen will have to change. One cannot tolerate aggressive chemo indefinitely. Because of this he will alternate aggressive treatment,( treatments Mark has been receiving up to this time) with a maintenance chemo. That will keep everything in check with fewer side effects to the patient. The maintenance will be in the pill form (Xeloda), and will be combined with the Avastin to enhance it's effectiveness. He plans to start in 3 weeks. Mark has taken the Xeloda before with very few side effects.


I asked if we could go straight to the latest and greatest instead of messing with what we have already done and has been around a while. He said that all of the drugs Mark has received have just come out in the last 3-5 years. There were 5-10 drugs that came onto the scene about the same time. There was a lot of money and time put into researching the right dosing and combinations of these drugs. During that time, less emphasis was put on the next generation of drugs. The new drugs are in the first phase of study. This means there is little known about their effects. He is not prepared to go with the unknown just yet. This would only become an option if the planned regimen proved to be inneffective.

Mark and I had a good visit today during which he learned all the details as we received them the other day from the surgeon. As you might have guessed, his attitude was positive as always. He reminded me that God didn't promise that there was going to be a miracle in the operating room the other day, but that didn't mean that we weren't going to see one." All true, but I sure did have my hopes up. Oh well, now we wait......

We love you all. GO RANGERS!!!!!!