He had an appointment on July 27 in Stanford to meet with his doctor. His big brother Steve drove along with him since my mom had to work. Thanks Steve! The appointment included labs and a discussion with his doctor. In terms of continuing care at Stanford, his doctor said he can do follow up appointment at his local oncologist. This is great news and eliminates the burden of having to drive 3 1/2 hours and back for a doctor's appointment. So far, all Dave's numbers look good. Dave asked the doctor what kind of "remission" he could expect. She gave a median of 2 years. Anotherwords, she doesn't know. Each patients is different and there is no way of predicting what the future holds. It's best to take things "one day at a time". But, Dave has been on the good side of luck ( I call it the grace of God) since getting this disease. I'm not sure what is next in terms of care. I believe Dave is leaning toward no maintenance therapy. I"m in support of this because, although recent research has proven maintenace therapy (using Revlimid or thalidomide after SCT, delays the progression of the disease, but don't prove patients live longer. The truth of the matter, the studies are too new to really tell the benefit. Nevertheless, maintenance therapy is becoming a standard following SCT (stem cell trasplant). To even make matters more confusing, additional international studies and data is showing possible secondary cancers utilizing Revlimid for maintenance. My vote is no and I believe this is Dave and even his Stanford doctor's vote as well. If Dave falls out of "remission" (complete response) he has other options such as an additional SCT (he has extra from his last harvest), maintenance chemos, and some very promising clinical trials.
I see a lot of the "old", and I mean, "pre-cancer" Dave lately. My husband, myself, and the kids went to Montana for a couple of weeks recently and when we returned we all went out for dinner for my mom's birthday. It was the same day Dave got back from Stanford. It was just fun. We talked, laughed, and just had fun. Of course, my mom and I were a bottle of wine in before we began, but.... it just seemed like "old times".
He still has fatigued days, but he's getting better every day. Dave, my mom, and our friend Donna went to church with Cory and I yesterday and I find it amazing how God works. The sermon for the day was on the book of Job. The sermon was basically about how we give praise to God when things are good, but question him when we are in crisis. I felt like it was a great message for what our family is going through and the importance of being faithful in good times as well as in bad.
Much love, Jeana.
