Monday, June 30, 2008

Surprisingly stable

Hi! I went to Chicago today for an appointment with Dr. Richards. He looked at the CT scans I took last week and reported that my tumors had remained surprisingly stable over the last six weeks. Some had grown a little, some had shrunk a little, and some had stayed the same. The best news is that the suspicious spots in my lungs appear to have gone away. The worst news is that a 5 x 5.5 cm mass in my liver has grown to 5 x 13 cm. This explains why I have been experiencing acute pain in my right shoulder. Evidently this mass is pressing on nerves that run up to my right shoulder, causing sudden sharp pain sensations in that part of my body. Dr. Richards said he suspects that this mass is probably evidence of a tumor hemorrhage (a unique characteristic of melanoma lesions is that they are known to bleed), which is neither positive nor negative. The tumor may bleed because it's growing or because it's dying. Either way, he suspects that the enlarged mass is mostly a puddle of blood and not cancer. Dr. Richards said the bleeding will stop on its own and he wasn't especially worried about it.

As a result of all this, I will be resuming my antiCTLA-4 trial on Wednesday. This is good news. Not only is the medication (called ipilimumab) easy on my body, it also is proving to be more effective than doctors initially thought. Being able to get back into the trial is probably the best news I have received from a doctor this year. It certainly gives me hope that maybe we will be able to get this cancer under control. I will post another blog after my infusion on Wednesday to let you know how it goes.

In other news, Kelly starts her new job tomorrow. I can't wait to hear how it goes!

Jeff

Friday, June 27, 2008

Where In The World Is The Dodd Squad?




Hi! Right now, I'm sitting at my kitchen table in Wauwatosa. But last week, the Dodd family was enjoying a very relaxing vacation aboard the Carnival Valor. The seas were calm, the skies were sunny, and the kids had as much ice cream as they were able to eat--and believe me, that's a lot! Aubrey, Regan, and Jack can provide a better description of the trip than I can so you should talk to them if you want to hear all the details. I'm just going to post a few pictures. The top one is Kelly and the kids in the dining room on the first formal night; the middle picture is Jack entertaining Finn before breakfast one morning; the bottom picture is me and the girls on the Lido deck after lunch.

I had CT scans after returning home and I visit with Dr. Richards on Monday to determine the next course of treatment. I'll write more after that.

Jeff

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Steppin' Out


Hi! After months of training, Finn is officially walking! He now can stand up in the middle of a room and take four or five steps all by himself. That's probably better than I can do. I tried to get a picture of him in action, but of course he won't cooperate. Finn definitely has a mind of his own; he'll do something only if he wants to do it. Asking, cajoling, begging, bribing: nothing works. Oh well. He isn't the only one in the family who insists on doing things his own way. : ) He did allow me to take a picture of him standing by himself.

The kids have one more day of school. Then summer vacation begins--yippee!

Jeff

PS I don't know what I'm doing with my fingers in this picture. Maybe I'm trying to get Finn's attention. Whatever I'm doing, I couldn't edit them out very easily so there they are, preserved for posterity.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

New Glasses



Hi! I got new glasses this week. I was tempted to choose something retro (see the first picture) and pick a pair of frames similar to what I wore as a grade schooler. I assume that was a popular style once. I'm sure I chose them at the time because they were the same style as what my Dad wore then. Thankfully, we've both upgraded our frames since then.

The second picture is of me and my mini-me, Finn. We put a pair of frames on him while we were picking out frames for me. He didn't like it a whole lot, but I really like the picture.

It's hot here this weekend (that means we broke 80 degrees). We're enjoying a lazy weekend before the kids have their last five days of school. Regan is at Abe's birthday party (Abe is the oldest of the Murphy boys who live next door; he and Regan are in the same grade at school). Jack is out on a "date" with Kelly. They went to see the latest "Indiana Jones" movie. Aubrey is staying cool in the basement, watching "Bella" the movie (it's very good--I highly recommend it) with her good friend Caroline. Finn is napping on the floor, and I think I'm going to go upstairs to do the same. I hope you're all enjoying an equally relaxing weekend as spring comes to a close.

Jeff

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

A good catch


Hi! As you can see in the photo, Jack caught his first fish this past weekend. Our neighbors, the Murphys, took him with them when they went to a local lake for a little weekend angling. Jack ended up catching five total. Four were little bluegills and sunfish, which he brought home. He also claims to have caught a much bigger one that he had to throw back because it was too big. How's that for a fish tale? : )

Jack's fish aren't the only good catches we made this past week. We also hired ourselves a couple of babysitters. Their names are Lauren and Grace, they're both soon-to-be juniors in college, and one of them will be coming over each afternoon to watch Finn and the other kids while I take my much-needed afternoon siesta. The two girls are long-time friends, and Lauren is a maternal cousin of Katie, who has served as the Murphy's nanny for at least as long as they've lived next door (more than six years).

We have gotten to know Katie quite well over the past several years and she has gotten to know us well. When we decided to hire a babysitter, we were hoping to find someone just like her, so we asked for her recommendation. She came through in a big way. Lauren and Grace both have fun personalities, seem to truly enjoy being around the kids, and are more than willing to give a hand around the house if we need it. What makes them an even better match for us is that Lauren (like Katie) knows first-hand what it's like to have a parent with cancer. Lauren and Katie's mothers are two of nine sisters, all of whom have had breast cancer. Their mothers both died of the disease, as well. Katie's mother passed away three or four years ago; Lauren's mother died when Lauren was about the same age as Regan. It seems like more than luck that these young women have come into our lives, and we are so grateful for their assistance.
On an unrelated note, the kids are still in school if you can believe it. Their last day is June 14th!

Jeff