Batter up!

Hi! Whoever said the living is easy in the summer time certainly didn't have four kids. I think this is only the third time I've had a chance to sit down at my computer in the last 10 days! It's not that we have loads of activities on the calendar. We signed Regan up for swimming lessons and Jack has t-ball once each week. That's it. But I'm not moving as fast as I did before I got my cane, and having a walking one-year-old underfoot certainly increases the amount of activity in the house. Fortunately, I have great kids and the three oldest are usually happy to give me a hand when I need it.

Jack's t-ball team had "official" team pictures taken last week. We could have paid $18 for a 5 x 7 photo of Jack swinging a bat and an 8 x 10 photo of him standing with kids he sees once each week for eight weeks. If he had been our first child, we might have done it. As fate would have it, however, he is our third. So we skipped team pictures. We took Jack to a neighborhood playground, snapped a couple of digital photos of him with his bat and glove, and then the whole family went to Gilles for custard. Jack was happy with that, and so was everyone else.

Speaking of Jack, he and I went to the Milwaukee Art Museum yesterday. Aubrey and Regan were away at Camp Angel (a three-day camp in north Wisconsin for kids who have parents, siblings, or grandparents with cancer; I'll post some pictures if and when I get some) so I thought it would be fun to do something just with Jack. The Brewers game was sold out, so he said he wanted to go to the Art Museum instead. If you live in the Milwaukee area and haven't been to the MAM lately, I recommend paying a visit. They recently opened a "Sensory Overload" exhibit that is absolutely terrific, especially for kids. It's part of the regular collection, so you don't have to pay extra. And did you know Milwaukee County residents get free admission on Wednesdays (kids under 12 are free all the time)? Anyway, that's just a little about what we've been doing. Will write more later.

Another Dose of Ipi

Hi! I traveled to Chicago yesterday to receive another dose of ipilumumab or, as Dr. Richards calls it, "ipi" (rhymes with "hippy"). Cee Cee, who is the wife of my good friend Tony Popanz and the mother of my god-daughters Allie and Chloe, served as my chauffeur and companion for the day. The infusion was uneventful, and the only side effect I've felt so far is the need for an afternoon nap.

Some of you may wonder why the doctor would put me back on a trial medication to which I had previously shown no response. The reason is that ipi has proved to be unique in the way that patients respond to it. Unlike traditional melanoma treatments, which produce immediate results and that must be discontinued eventually because of the harm they do to the body, ipi actually builds an immune response that--in a growing number of trial patients--reveals itself gradually over a period of several months. According to a recent evaluation of melanoma trial treatments, ipi is showing a "pattern of responses that has never been seen before: some patients have slow regression of old lesions and then develop new lesions, which then shrink; some patients show a slow regression over a long period, with a partial response at 6 months; and some patients show progression of disease followed by regression."

Because these positive responses failed to materialize during the first 12 or 24 weeks of treatment, the drug manufacturers had to take patients off the ipi and out of the clinical trials. Fortunately, doctors who administer the trials noticed that many of these "failed" patients were showing disease regression long after receiving their last dose of ipi. Thanks to the diligence of these doctors, patients like me can return to the trials for continued treatment. Hopefully, ipi will prove to have even better response rates with prolonged usage.

Anyway, I won't know much about how ipi is working for me until I go back for CT scans in 12 weeks. That means I get to enjoy our lovely Wisconsin summer without thinking too much about cancer. Or so I pray.

Jeff

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

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

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.

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

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