Still trying to manage the pain

Hello Friends and Family,

It's been another long week for Scott.  He is still in the hospital because they still can't get the pain under control.  The Doctors are trying as hard as they can - there is much hope that radiation will make a big difference.  He was doing better earlier in the week, but the little amount that the pain decreased went away last night - the pain started increasing again.  We hope (I know that sounds weird) that it's because of the radiation.  The Radiation Oncologist had told us at the beginning that the pain may increase for a short time during radiation.  This is because the radiation is damaging the tissues and muscles around the tumor.  The Doctors are thinking the pain is because of muscle inflammation.  Because of the pain, he was not able to have radiation today.  He has three radiation treatments left next week.  They have also increased his pain meds again in hopes of making him a bit more comfortable.  At this point, he will likely stay in the hospital at least through all of his radiation treatments.

It also turns out that we won't get to know how much impact the radiation had on shrinking the tumor for a few weeks yet.  Radiation keeps working to kill the cancer cells even after the treatments are done.  Because of this, there's really no point in doing an MRI or CT Scan right after radiation is done.  They will wait and see the real affect it had.  The hope is still that he can start chemotherapy again a couple weeks after radiation is done.

The good news is that he seems to have gotten over the fevers for now.  They have not seen any signs of infection - the fevers are likely from the tumor.

We also heard back from the Doctors at Moffit Cancer Center in Tampa.  Their "Tumor Board" reviewed Scott's scans and said that he seems to be getting the best care and treatment he can.  It made us feel better that all the right things are happening to get him better. 

I feel like you guys probably have more questions that I'm not answering, so if you do, just let me know.  As always, we all very much appreciate your love and concern.  It's a true blessing to be surrounded with so much Love.

We keep swimming!
Amy