Staying strong

Jeff is doing well.  His weight is back up to 175 which is pretty normal for him.  Yes - he's still weighs what he did in high school.  (Hopefully all of our children inherited his metabolism).  Dr. Patel said he looked good.  Jeff's white blood cell count remains low while all his other blood counts have returned to normal.  We asked why this is still going on and he said his bone marrow has been damaged by the chemo.  He hopes that it will continue to heal.  His blood test Monday indicated he is up from 3.2 to 3.6. He needs to get over 5. Not great but slowly moving in the right direction.  This is important because it will determine whether Jeff will be able to take more chemo in the future.  Please pray that his bone marrow continues to reginerate and heal.
Dr. Patel was concerned about Jeff's ongoing bloody nose so he sent us to Dr. Guttenplan yesterday.  That is the dr who originally diagnosed Jeff 2 years ago when we thought Jeff had a simple polyp in his nose.  As we were sitting in his office we found it ironic that it was nearly 2 years to the day that this journey began in that very office. Wow.  Two years.  So hard to believe.  I don't think we can remember how we felt before, when we were normal.  It seems that this cancer has been our life for so long.  Dr. G was SO kind!! He checked ALL up in Jeff's nose and said he saw no evidence of cancer.  Which is, of course, what Jeff was worried about.  He said his nose is just raw from all the radiation and chemo and the littlest sneeze or blow would make it bleed.  He said it should start to heal slowly as time goes by.  We thanked Dr. G over and over.  He was the one who diagnosed Jeff and got us into MDA within 2 weeks.  His friend from medical school happened to be a Head and Neck surgeon at MDA who specializes in mucosal melanoma.  That's how we got into Dr. Myers - a noted researcher and surgeon, very respected and sought out.  It was a huge coincidence when you think about how rare Jeff's cancer is. Thank you God for putting Dr. Guttenplan on our path.  Because of that we will never look back and question our treatment.  We feel that Jeff got the best treatment that was available.  We will never waste time second guessing those decisions.  As we were leaving Dr. Guttenplan said, "If you need anything let me know.  I will help you anyway that I can.  I've been thinking about you.  Even when you don't realize, I've been thinking about you and hoping for the best." Such kindness!!! I've seen it over and over.  God is comforting us through His people.  All of you!  My friend Chris reassured me the other day that one day it will be revealed to me what His plan is in all of this.  And while I am still a little too pissed to find comfort in that right now I do know, I know without a doubt, that we are being cared for and comforted and touched.  That part I see everyday.  I believe in the goodness of God's love and that is what I have surrounded my family with.
Jeff and I leave on Sunday to go back to San Antonio.  They will be doing blood work every two hours to determine the amount of medicine in his system.  This is data they are gathering for the drug study.  Tedious, but part of what it is.  We'll have a lot of time on our hands next week so I'll try to post often.

Staying strong,
Jeff and Leta