Checking in from treatment #7

Hi all! Just checking in from treatment #7. This treatment is a bit different - it's supposed to be a one day outpatient, but it ended up being a one day INpatient. Scott gets labs (bloodwork) periodically between treatments. This is to keep an eye on his white blood counts, red blood counts and platelets (among other things). Last Wednesday's labs showed a low platelet count - not too low that he'd need a transfusion, but low enough to postpone chemotherapy until they get better. So, the plan from Liz was to do his "pre-chemo" labs in Deerfield, see how they look, and then determine if chemo is still on. So, Scott once again surprised everyone and his platelets bounced back and chemo was a go.

The difference is that he got admitted this time, but that's more out of comfort and convenience for him. We wouldn't end up leaving until 1 or 2 am and we have to be back down here in Miami at 10:45am for another Dr. Appt. By being admitted, he can just stay down here and rest. We're in a different place, too - we're in an inpatient room at Sylvester, rather than at the UM hospital. These aren't private rooms, but there's a very nice couple in the next bed and Scott and him have been chatting. We saw Liz this morning and everything else is looking good. Dr. Fernandez wasn't here today, but Liz is such a sweetheart so Scott doesn't mind. She showed us the MRI/CT images of his tumor and it was fascinating to see where the new bone was growing.

Tomorrow's appointment is one we've been anticipating for awhile. Tomorrow, we meet with his original Oncologist (who we learned is also a surgeon) to discuss whether or not Scott is going to do surgery, radiation, or a combination of both. We hope to come out of that appointment with a bunch of updates, so one of us will definitely do a blog post after that. Stay tuned!

Scott says "hi" to all and is laughing because it means two things right now - he says hi to all of you and he's feeling a bit "hi" because they just gave him a dose of Ativan! :) He's extra funny when he's all loopy! He always orders "Purée Melanga" (a Cuban favorite) and he says it like he has an accent and he cracks himself up when he does it. The "accent" isn't the funny part - watching him crack himself up is!

Love to all!
~Amy