Another week goes by

Not a lot to report. Meg continues to rest at home, with her constant feline companion, and with human visitors dropping by every couple of days, one of whom (Della, fellow wind player and lab colleague) got to keep Meg company during her Avastin infusion.

Not clear if the Avastin is doing any good (MRI at end of June will show that) but it doesn't seen to be hindering wound healing too much: a couple of people peered at the incision last Wednesday, and will decide when/if the next Avastin will be infused.

Meg stays at home, typically reading or snoozing on the couch, and making Shannon think she's gone to cat heaven. Her wound continues to drain, and her head continues to hurt, but she bears it all with her normal stoicism. She has little energy or enthusiasm for outings, but does enjoy visitors. She was particularly impressed by Andrew's boss (Gerry) and his wife (Vicki) who turned up on Saturday night with a complete meal, which they shared with us, then washed the dishes, tidied up and withdrew gracefully when they sensed that Meg was getting tired. Shannon continues to enjoy the box they brought the food in.

Assorted friends and relations are scheduled to stay with us: our son Nick for the Memorial Day weekend, followed by Meg's mom (Jean) , who will be here from June 8 - 12th and will overlap briefly with our  daughter Ely (June 11 - 15) who will leave just before Cathie Cooper, a friend from Meg's undergraduate days, comes to visit. Cathie will be here from the 15th to about the 18th, and is promising to cook up a storm and fill our freezer.

They'd be happy to share Meg with you, should you wish to stop by. I go to the lab most days, except when I'm ferrying Meg to medical appointments, and often come home for lunch, so you might see me as well. Call us at home (206-323-5929) or Andrew's iPhone (206-660-3592) if you're coming over.

Medical news, as I noted, is ongoing chemotherapy, probable Avastin and an MRI and appointment with the neuro-oncologist on June 20th to see how things are going.

More difficulties

Relaxing together by Lake Washington. Unsolicited photo taken
and shared by kindly fellow sunbather

Following Dr. Jost's April 25th wound revision, Meg seemed to be healing well, and Dr. Gottlieb (plastic surgeon) was very pleased with the initial results when they saw her on April 28th. However an MRI taken that day showed significant tumor growth and Meg was put back on the Temodar chemotherapy: most of the specialists we have consulted give that a good chance of still working.

 The repaired wound, however, subsequently started to open up and ooze, as the original one had, and May 10th saw Meg returning to the operating room, fully anesthetized, for Dr. Gottlieb to perform a much more extensive wound revision. The hope was that the wound would heal rapidly and allow the Avastin antibody therapy  to be restarted. (Avastin acts by preventing blood vessel formation and hence inhibits both tumor growth and wound healing). The various experts are, to be honest, divided as to whether Avastin will continue to work for her. Recall that she was in a clinical trial and received Avastin from the start  -  doctors have seen few such patients, so there's very little track record to guide them.

Morning after 2nd wound
revision: time to go home!

The wound, although well sewed up, continues to ooze and not heal, and Meg's energy level and mental state (memory, mostly) continued to decline, giving concern that the tumor was continuing to grow. The doctors reasoned that the threat of tumor growth was greater than that of wound failure (which they can do something about) and sent her for another MRI this morning. The results show further tumor growth and she will restart her (every 2 week) Avastin infusions on Thursday. An MRI in a couple of weeks should show whether the Avastin is indeed still able to contain the tumor.

Fellow sleepers. Meg's dressing
keeps reminding me of this.

Meg has very little energy, and naps a great deal during the day, but is alert and happy to see visitors between naps. Our children and Meg's mother will be visiting (separately) over the next few weeks. Her brother from Olympia visited us last weekend: he'll be traveling to Santa Barbara to look after Meg's father while her mother is with us. He's had extensive experience helping with chronically ill people and is eager to do whatever he can to help out here.

Seattle Brain Cancer Walk will be on Sept. 24th

Details on their webpage. Many thanks to all of you who participated last year. (Pictures from last year). The patient and caregiver support groups, funded by these efforts, have been immensely valuable for Andrew.  Your efforts also helped fund the microarray analysis of Meg's original and recurrence tumor samples, which are continuing to help guide our thinking about  treatments.

The Clarinet Choir's team for the walk is  http://community.swedish.org/netcommunity/NWCC.  They welcome all-comers to join them.