Quick Chemo Cycle 3 Round 1 Update

Today was the the first round of Joe's 3rd cycle of chemo at Duke.  Since Joe's brother Bill is visiting from Vegas, he had the privilege of accompanying Joe today.  It was a good thing too since Joe's appointment was later today, 9a.m. and he didn't finish chemo until about 12:45pm.   That would have put me out of the office for a long time today!  Bill got to meet Joe's oncologist, Dr. Zafar, and the doctor got Bill's Seal of Approval.  The report today was a good one.  Dr. Zafar was pleased with last week's CT scan results which showed the tumor has shrunk some and he was also pleased, as was I when I saw them, with the results of todays blood tests.  His white blood cell count was down to 5.9 and his bilirubin count was at .6 (I don't think it's ever been that low before...especially impressive since last Tuesday it was at 1.7)  Regardless he got a good report today and the chemo went off without any issue..i.e. they got a good vein quickly without having to stick him more than once.  The down side to me not going is no photos :(
Oh well, there will be a next time.  Next week would be his 2nd time of Cycle 3 but since we are doing the beach trip, he gets to skip it!  That has been one of the best things about our oncology team, they have bent over backwards to work with our schedule and allowed us to maintain as much of a normal life as possible.   A big shout out to Dr. Zafar, Leigh Howard & Minoka Hicks (even though Minoka is now working with a different doc - we miss her!!!)

Thank you to everyone for their continued prayers and good thoughts.  They seem to be working!