Another long day in LA. We left the house around 10 am and got home around 8 pm. Adam's girlfriend Molly went with us and helped Adam to pass the time. The chemo cycle that Adam is on involves four different drugs. One drug is given on day 1 and 8, one on day 1 and 21, one on day 1 and one on day 28. It is all very confusing. The last time Adam was supposed to get two of the drugs his counts were really low so he couldn't do his normal schedule and his schedule got all messed up. The PET scan that he got last week showed that a few of the tumors in his torso are slightly smaller. The MRI showed that perhaps there was a new tumor in his neck and the brain tumor is definitely bigger. So today, they decided to stick with the chemo drugs that he did last month. Hopefully this will keep the tumors in his lymph nodes, spine and arm under control. The brain tumor is our biggest concern right now as it is growing dangerously close to the part of the brain that controls the motor skills on the left side of his body. Adam has some bad mouth sores and is having a lot of trouble eating. He got some new pain killers for his mouth and hopefully this will help him be able to eat more. Heaven knows he could use a little meat on his bones!
Patty

Our day started early today with a 6:45 am trip to UCSD for radiation. They were supposed to be continuing radiation on Adam's neck and starting radiation on Adam's eye. But after a few minute wait they came and told us that the machine was down and we would have to wait at least half an hour. Since we had to be in LA for chemo we said we couldn't wait and we headed off to UCLA. Adam's counts were very low today (the lowest they've ever been) so Adam could only get one of the three chemo drugs. Until his counts come up he has to avoid public places. He gets more blood work on Wednesday and Mac graduates from the 8th grade on Thursday. Adam is hoping his counts are up enough to attend Mac's graduation.

We are going to talk to Dr. Murphy tomorrow about whether or not we should continue radiation on Adam's neck. The tumors there seem to be a little slower growing and his throat is so bad right now from the radiation that he can hardly swallow. He's lost a lot of weight (and he did not start out with a lot of body fat!) so we are trying to make every bite count. Dr. Cloughesy is going to do a CAT scan of his whole body and an MRI next Monday. Then we will know if we are getting the tumors under control or not. Dr. Cloughesy told Adam that any treatments he doesn't want he doesn't have to have. Adam wants to continue with treatments agressively right now.
Patty