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Here Come the Docs

Thursday, February 3, 2005 11:31 AM CST

9:30 Thursday
We're at the Gamma Knife Center, Dave had the headframe placed and is now in MRI. We'll get the results shortly.

We met with the docs yesterday. Dr. Spence went over his history very carefully. We appreciate his thoroughness. He's the only one who caught the growth the time before the second surgery. He said that Dave's platelets were still too low to begin chemo and said that his white cells are also now low, which carries a risk of infection. He can't start any chemo until those counts rebound. We discussed 3 different options: accutane (used as an acne med, given in high doses sometimes kills cancer cells), tamoxifen (a hormonal treatment often used in breast cancer), and thalidomide (used to be used for morning sickness, caused major birth defects, is now used to inhibit the growth of blood vessels, which tumors need to grow). None of these are stellar options. He said that Dave may be able to do more carboplatin at a lower dose. We also talked about doing a combo of these agents, either at the same time or in rotation. We will be seeking second opinions from Duke and San Fransisco again.

They had a hard time starting his IV today, and a hard time with his blood draw yesterday, time to consider a port, especially if he goes on an IV chemo.

His platelets are at 133,000, which is approaching normal. This is good news. His white cells are at 1.6, normal is around 3.0. They gave him a preventative dose of antibiotics to prevent infection.

Denise is here, thank goodness. Peter is here, too, but we can't find him right now! We had a nice sleep and Evy & Erik's last night. Good to see good friends! We also had the traditional pre-procedure dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory. Jodie is our nurse today, she is FABULOUS! Dr. Rockhill is great, too. He's the one who kept us sane at the hospital and is the doc who keeps us informed. We so appreciate both of them.

Will write again while Dave's in the machine. Love you all....keep praying!

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