Last Infusion and Hopeful News

Today Harold completed his last immunotherapy infusion and we got some very hopeful news. Here’s some background information so this makes sense:

Harold’s March 28^th PET scan revealed that in addition to the tumors in his brain, he has numerous melanoma tumors throughout his body. The largest of these is in his liver. It’s a bummer to have a big tumor in a vital body organ, but because of its location, blood tests can give us an indication of the progression of that tumor.   Lab work at diagnosis showed Harold's liver function was not within normal values. After the first couple of infusions it spiked even further out of range. That could mean two things: the tumor was continuing to grow (bad), or he was experiencing an inflammatory response to the treatment (good).

Before today we didn’t know enough to worry. Lab results can be just a stream of numbers down a page; but when Harold's doctor came in today exclaiming “This is remarkable!” they became something more. They became the first indication that the immunotherapy treatment is working. Harold's liver function is now perfectly normal!  

After the exam and some joking about Harold's "racquetball rash" our Doc smiled and indicated that if he didn’t know about the liver tumor, there would be no reason to suspect one now. We will get confirmation one way or another in about six weeks when Harold has a follow up PET scan.

 We thanked him for the good news and his work on our behalf. He countered by saying, “It’s not me." Then pointing to Harold he continued, "It's that . . . Jones phenomena.” 

Meanwhile we can’t stop grinning. These little victories are so sweet. We know fighting cancer is a long journey. There are no guarantees. But you know what? We choose faith. We have faith in our medical team and faith in a loving Heavenly Father who is aware of our needs. That faith is strengthened by days like today and by your continued faith and prayers in our behalf. We are very grateful.