Update on Reid...

Reid had his appointment with the Oncologist this afternoon.  His biopsy once again indicated Hodgkin's Lymphoma, so there were no surprises there.  He seemed satisfied with that biopsy and hopes to begin Reid's chemo later on next week in preparation for the stem cell transplant.  Reid sees the Oncologist again on Tuesday and then we will know more.

He will have to be admitted to the hospital for this chemo.  It will take three days each time.  I believe there will be a couple of weeks between each chemo treatment and he will have three treatments.  I'm not sure I have that exactly right, but if not completely accurate it's probably close.  I'm sure we'll learn more as we move along in the process.

We were told that the treatment is called ICE and there are three drugs.  The doctor would like to add an additional drug that I understood him to say was a trial, but he's not 100% sure that will be possible.  He will know by Tuesday.

Meanwhile Reid has his SSI hearing also on Tuesday.  His lawyer feels pretty confident about his chances of being approved.

We will also be back down at MD Anderson on Monday for his follow up appointment with the Radiologist and Cardiologist.  They are watching him for possible complications from the radiation he received.  He was doing very well on the low cholesterol diet until the relapse and the chronic pain.  He was not able to eat much while the pain was severe and lost twenty pounds.  After that we were more interested in just getting him to eat something and the diet wasn't as strictly followed.  He's doing better with it now, but with Thanksgiving I'm not sure how high the numbers will go.  They're concerned about his coronary arteries because complications from the radiation can show up later, so he needs to watch his cholesterol so that doesn't cause any additional problems.

I've been doing a lot of worrying while waiting for the biopsy results.  Yesterday I mentioned to Reid about today's appointment.  He replied, "Oh yea, I forgot about that appointment."  I joke that if I didn't do all the worrying in this family it would never get done. :)

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.