We’ve had good news fromTim’s latest PET scan. Tim has been off chemo now for almost 4 months. It was just making him too sick. The latest scan shows that the tumor hasn’t grown, and there are no metastases. However, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before the tumor progresses. Tim will meet with his oncologist this week to discuss treatment options. The typical chemo treatment that will probably be suggested contains one drug that really made him sick the last time. Tim also has ongoing consultations with his oncologist at UCSF. So, we’ll see what the options are.

Paul has almost completed his series of radiation treatments focused on treating a lesion in his spine. The radiation has gone pretty well, but it certainly took up all of our mornings for the past couple weeks.

Paul’s latest lab results were really good. It looks like the newest chemo he’s on is working. But, Paul has also had a lot of stomach pain likely due to his high dosage of weekly steroid in combination with his chemo drugs. Paul’s good lab results have raised the question of when he should have a stem cell transplant at Stanford. The transplant has considerable risk, but also will require short-term isolation to prevent getting infections (at least a month or more). It’s not clear yet whether or not the transplant needs to occur soon or whether it can be postponed a bit. This will be decided when we get back from visiting Paul's dad in Wisconsin next week.

Meanwhile, we have had visits from out-of-state friends as well as local friends. In spite of all the medical appointments and procedures, we've had a really good time.

Shaggy Lupine (Lupinus covilei) approaching the pass to Ten Lakes in the Sierra