What a Roller Coaster Ride!

Thank you for riding, pull the lap belt tight across your lap and please be sure to keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times.

Whew! What a ride the past few days have been.

We received the test results back from today on the CT scan.. and let me tell you, it's pretty darn good after everything else we have heard.

For the most part, the scans looked about the same, HOWEVER, the lymph nodes do not look as swollen and the tumor appears to be about the same size. They are currently putting him on dialysis and he will begin receiving continuing dialysis for an indefinite period of time. They will get rid of the toxins in his system and then begin getting rid of the fluids in his system. Once the dialysis begins on a regular basis, his kidneys should be able to pump the toxins out of his body.

He is still connected to a ventilator and will remain on it for at least 24-36 more hours. While he is on the ventilator the doctor will get additional drugs into his system that they might not have been able to while he wasn't on the machine. Once they start to take him off the ventilator, it will take a few days as they want to be sure that he will be able to breath on his own without complications. All told, it looks like Jerry may be on the ventilaor for about 5 days (if things go well).

He is now re-connected to nutrients as well.

Jerry is aware of the ventilaor and does not like having it (would you?) he has abeen trying to remove it from his mouth a few times. As long as there are 2 people back there, the nurses will not have to strap him down to prevent him from pulling the tube out of his mouth. I think we have the covered with as many of us as their are!

After we received this news, we were all extremely relieved while at the same time a bit skeptical. Can it be real? Is this really a shift in his prognosis? it sure seems that way... what a ride!

On a side note, we were all so excited to have this good news and start planning "time away in a real bed and showers" that we came up with a plan of shifts to keep at least 2 people here at all times in with Jerry. Well, that took a little time and became a bit of a show (who knew planning 3 hours shifts for the next 24 hours would be so difficult?), but was nothing compared to the sideshow that was going on around this: the great pillow debacle of 2009. Determing what stuff to leave in the Camp Jerry waiting room and what to take home, became a bit of a struggle and a comedy of errors. (You really had to be there to enjoy the humor, so just take our word on it).

So we shall see how the next few days and weeks pan out, but we are definitely in the zone for improvement now. Next stop: CHEMO in 2 weeks.... that is our goal today.