Staples are out

Today we visited our surgeon's office and the staples were removed. The incision is healing nicely - and even better - Keith can now wash his hair.

Our planning meeting with the radiation team went well. The treatment we are being offered is IMRT (Intensity modulated radiation therapy) - a relatively new technique which allows radiation to be focused and shaped around a specific tumor. The advantage is that this process spares incidental parts of the brain while allowing a good dose of radiation to be delivered to the target. Given that we had the maximum dose of radiation two years ago, this presents a unique opportunity to do more radiation without violating the "10 year rule". We are scheduled to begin next Wednesday.

Tomorrow (Thursday) we have a meeting with the oncology team to discuss our chemotherapy options. We will start the day with blood work - to get a feel for how well Keith's platelets are recovering. We understand that the UCLA team has reviewed Keith's latest MRI and has consulted with the Kaiser team to assess the best approach. I will post when we have their recommendation.

Keith continues to be quite weak although he has managed (with help) to get up and down our stairs for outings to Kaiser on each of the last two days. Otherwise, he is nestled comfortably in his bed and dozes on and off throughout the day. There has been a steady stream of visitors which cheers him greatly.