June 28th

Hello everyone, I thought I would let you know how Kirk's tests turned out. The CT Scans showed nothing new which is a good thing. They will show the original spots on the bones for about 2 years because it takes that long for bones to heal. The endoscopy was unclear because the doctor said that the stent looked good but he couldn't see past it which was unusual, so Kirk had to go to the hospital and have an upper GI. This is where they had him drink the contrast and then x-ray to see if it moves through the way it is supposed to and it did. So his stent is open and working. He also had an ECHO cardiogram on his heart. Sorry if I misspelled any of that. This was to see if the chemo had damaged his heart in any way. This test also turned out very good. The blood marker that we have been watching is actually fluctuating a bit. It went from 181 to 235 and then back to 198. The doctor didn't seem to conerned over this. He said that it could do that. Kirk has had 4 complete chemo treatments and Dr. Swan said that he wanted him to have 6. So that leaves 2 more. He was supposed to have another one starting this past Monday but we talked with Dr. Swan about Matthew's All State Game in Hampton on July 13th and he said that it should be O.K. for Kirk to wait until after we go on this trip. That way he will feel really good for the game and not wiped out. When we left his office they told Kirk to go and have a good time and we would resume when he got back. So the next chemo treatment is scheduled for July 16th.

Today Kirk had to go for his Clinical Trial treatment and he is feeling pretty rough this afternoon. It is to help the bones rebuild themselves and it makes him feel like he has the flu. For the most part he has been feeling pretty good and next week he doesn't have a single appointment. This will be the first week since all this started that he has a full week off. I feel like he so deserves a really good week and a nice vacation, he has been through so much.

So that's all the latest news. After his next 2 treatments he will have more tests to see how everything looks and we will go from there. I pray that it will have gotten it all.

I have to say that we just love Dr. Swan. He doesn't look at cancer like it is a death sentence, he looks at it like it's just another illness and you do your very best to treat it. He has always been very positive with us and it helps you to keep going.

Well when I have more news I will be sure to post. I hope everyone has a happy and safe July 4th.

God Bless!

Kirk and Laura