Almost done with Radiation!

Well, Joe has only 2 more radiation treatments - which is great news! The radiation makes him very tired - - although he has completed the cycle on his shoulder, he is still receiving it in the pelvic and hip region. Today and Monday - then he graduates! He saw an orthopedic oncologist on Wednesay who is concerned with the cancer growth in his pelvis/hip region - he had a CT scan yesterday to assess the bone damage to determine if there is a need for a rod to be inserted into this area for stability. We'll find out the answer to that question in about a week. My hope is that he does not have to undergo further surgery. It will take him about 2 weeks to recover from the radiation and get ready for IL-2 here at Strong.

We're off to Houston on Tuesday.

Joe, Gina, Tom & I are tremendously humbled by the outpouring of generosity from Caldwell manufacturing who had a luncheon fund raiser for us and the Spencerport soccer house and travel club who also held a donation fundrasier for us. The generosity of you all has been overwhelming and we are very grateful for your support. The money will be put toward getting Joe and I to Houston as many times as necessary to cure him if high dose IL-2 here in Rochester is not effective. While we're praying that he is in the small percentage that gets a full response, we need to have another avenue if this is not the outcome. I am confident that Dr Amato will have something in his bag of renal cell tricks to evict this cancer from Joe if he does not respond to IL-2. There's just too much living to do yet! Words cannot adequately express our thanks to you all - for the time and effort you all put into doing these fund raisers, but mostly for the knowledge that we are not alone - we're never alone when we have such a huge wonderful group of friends and family. Your continued unconditional love and support is heart warming.

Thank you doesn't seem adequate enough for all you have done. There's too many people to publically thank (and I would only miss someone anyhow!) so THANK YOU ONE AND ALL! :-)

Next week will be a busy one for Joe but it's also a huge step forward in taking control of the disease and working together for a solution.

Much love,
Vicki