Yeah-Staci's Here! She arrived last night and is off this morning to spend the day "getting dirty and eating junk food" with Levi. Kelsey tried to convince us that he should go along, too, but since he already missed most of October with his sinus surgery he had to skip all of the fun and go to school. Kristi gets in from Japan this afternoon so we are also looking forward to seeing her, Granny, and Cody for dinner tonight.
Jon is still sleeping. This second chemo seemed to knock him out much more than the first. He says that the pain in his liver is diminishing so we are hoping that means the tumors are shrinking. I had the opportunity to discuss Jon's case with a leading oncologist from Swedish Hospital last night (Dr. Henry Kaplan). He and Dr. Reilly (our naturopath) both suggested we ask for a second opinion on the biopsy since there remains some question as to whether or not the primary site is the pancreas. That could potentially impact the specific kind of chemotherapy he is receiving and improve his outcome. He felt that we were on a reasonable course at the present and should check back with him after Jon's CT on the 19th. All of the doctors agree that if the tumors are shrinking we should stay on the same course until they are small enough to eliminate with radiofrequency ablation. That procedure is available at the University of Washington Medical Center. There is a Dr. Chu working with Dr. Reilly at the Seattle Cancer and Wellness Center who is conducting a study on a new combination of old chemotherapy drugs for pancreatic cancer. To date he has a 90% success rate over a two year period, not a very long study but unbelievable outcomes. His treatment also combines all the natural methods we have already incorporated. He has a patient that was brought to him on a stretcher two years ago and is currently off chemo, lifting weights, and cycling. His name is Aaron if anyone wants to check out the website (google:seattle cancer and wellness center).
The doctors we have met on this journey have been absolutely outstanding. It takes a very unique person to specialize in oncology. Dr. Kaplan starts his rounds at Swedish at 5:30 in the morning, works all day, and still makes time to call me at 9pm because our friend Maggie asked him, we are not even his patient. That is the kind of dedication that continues to give me hope. In addition, this doctor is an avid backpacker. When we ended our call he told me his favorite place to backpack is the Wind River in Wyoming and said "let get Jon well and I'll tell you where the trailhead is".
Jon's urologist, Dr. Philbrick, has also gone above and beyond the call of duty. Although Jon's condition is unrelated to his treatment, he calls regularly to check on Jon's progress and offers any advice and support that he can. Another amazing individual! Not to mention the radiologist from CDI and Dr. Liao who spent their Thanksgiving Eve going over Jon's case with me. We couldn't ask for a better team of dedicated doctors!
Staci make take over the blog for the next few days, so look forward to the Nichols Family from another perspective. Elizabeth says we are already like the reality TV show "Hogan Knows Best" :)
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