Whewwww!

They came and got Karl for his PET scan this morning at about 7:30. We were waiting for him when he got back in his room around 11 a.m. He said the actual scan itself didn't take much time. He was tired and in pain from the movement, but his nurse Julie got him hooked up to his IV where he could hit the PCA button.

Shortly thereafter a physician's assistant on the medicine team came in and told him his liver enzyme numbers were declining. He was cautiuosly optimistic and wanted to see it continue to trend downward. If the numbers come in lower tomorrow, they will know they probably took away the correct antibiotic. Later on, Dr. Gomez came in, smiling and reiterating the same news. He said he thinks they figured it out.

Then we asked Julie if the PET scan results were back. She reported that they were, but she couldn't divulge the information. She put in a page to Dr. Brogan and asked that he come in and tell us the results. That was at 1 p.m. We were on pins and needles until Dr. Brogan showed up at 4:30. He delivered very good news.

The cancer has not metasticized. He said they expected that would be the case. He also said there were no remarks about the kidney mass on the reading by the radiologist and there was no uptake of dye. However, the concentration for this scan was on the spinal tumor. They are using the scan to map the radiation cyber knife. He said they use a lot of complicated mathematical calculations to program into the machine based on the measurements they take from the scan.

Dr. Brogan used a bag of popcorn on Karl's bed-side table to demonstrate. He pointed to a piece of popcorn in the middle of the bag and said they use multiple angles to beam radiation at the target kernal. Alone, the beams are weak so they don't destroy good popcorn. However, if they are all pointed at the same kernal, it will be destroyed. We were all nodding our heads like we understood. Then Karl said, "So you mean I won't be able to eat popcorn after this?" Dr. Brogan, put his head down, had a very wry smile, looked back up and said, "Perhaps I should have used broccoli as an example." And we all laughed.

Dr. Brogan's best guess was that Karl would have almost another week here on the 8th floor to continue his plastic surgery healing. Then Karl would receive the cyberknife radiation on Thursday or Friday of next week. He'd then be shipped down to the 3rd floor rehab unit the following week. He'd spend about a week there then be released. So, now we're shooting for a Labor Day release. Again, that's the best guess.

Regardless, we are thrilled and relieved about the news today. As Dr. Brogan said before he left the room today, "This sure turned out to be a longer stay than I figured, but I think it was good thing." We couldn't agree more, Dr. Brogan. We couldn't agree more.

Love and blessings,

Kerry