Medical (non) news

Meg's progress continues to be uneventful - her medical care is in the very capable hands of her neuro-surgeon (Dr. Sarah Jost), her neuro-oncologist (Dr. John Henson) and their physician's assistant Jennifer Wulff.

While we were back east for Nick's graduation we went to the National Institute of Health, and Meg was examined by doctors in the neuro-oncology branch:  a clinical fellow (Dr. Katharine McNicol, examining Meg in the photo) and the  department chief (Dr. Howard Fine). They examined her MRI's from Seattle, remarked on what a good job the surgeon had done, noted that she was probably the healthiest patient they'd see that day, and patiently answered Andrew's many questions. They invited us to keep them updated on her progress, and agreed to be available for consultation, should further treatment be needed in the future.

The Swedish Neurosciences Institute, where Meg was treated, has a brain cancer research and treatment center, the Ben and Catherine Ivy Center, which was the recipient of some of the proceeds from the recent brain cancer walk. Andrew went to a presentation by the director of the center, Dr. Greg Foltz, and met with him this week. Their lab is genetically characterizing Meg's tumor - the information may help guide us if a change of treatment becomes necessary.

On a lighter note, Summer had finally discovered Seattle - we're off to the mountains this weekend with a good friend of Andrew's from graduate school. We'll be hiking and getting fit for the beach backpacking trip that Meg is planning for August (after all her family visits Seattle at the end of this month).

No change, which is always good news

Meg continues to prosper. She's working, taking chemotherapy 5 days a month,  getting infusions [clinical trial] every 2 weeks, and just doing great. We're in a lull between visitors: Elspeth's girlfriend was here for the July 4th holiday weekend,  we go camping with a college buddy of Andrew's in a week's time, and then await the entire Holmes family the next weekend.

Minor milestones:

• It's now been 200 days since Meg came home from the hospital, as measured by bottles of daily vitamin pills.
• We took advantage of Elspeth's only weekend day off from Trader Joe's to go on a bike ride with her. We returned to the trail that we enjoyed during Meg's radiation treatments: her subsequent fatigue curtailed bike rides for a while, so it's good to know that she's returned to her former vigor.

Seattle Brain Cancer Walk, family visits

Many thanks to all of you who made donations to the Brain Cancer Fundraiser/Walk last Saturday, and to those of you who were able to join us there. A special thank you to the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra, who were an official sponsor of the event, and an extra special thank you to the cello section, who came along and serenaded the participants.  More pictures here. (BTW it's not too late to contribute.)

Meg was very happy to experience everyone's support, and was very moved to see her fellow orchestra members there, walking and performing. She continues in excellent health and has started practicing her clarinet again, in preparation for  rejoining the orchestra this Fall.

The walk was just one part of a  busy weekend for us: Meg's sister and her two daughters were visiting from California, and her brother (and his partner) came up to join us for the evening. We enjoyed assorted Seattle attractions in assorted groupings, and all managed to get access to our (only) bathroom more or less when we needed to! We've now recovered, spent the week at work, and Elspeth is now enjoying a visit from her girlfriend for the July 4th weekend. Seattle's summer seems set to arrive right on schedule (July 5th).