Treatment in Fort Worth

Howdy all,

I have a little catching up to do so here goes.

Since deciding to do his chemotherapy & radiation treatments in Fort Worth, Dad had appointments and tests with his local medical oncologist, Dr. Henry Xiong, and radiation oncologist, Dr. Peter LaNasa. Both agree with the treatment plan originally lined out by the physicians at MD Anderson. Last Monday he had a PET scan (at 6am!) and had surgery to place the medi-port for chemo injections on last Tuesday. Dad will start 5 weeks of chemotherapy and radiation on Mon. 1/5. He will have radiation treatment every morning, Monday through Friday. His chemo treatment is twofold - via injection every Monday morning after radiation and via pills taken daily 2x per day.

Today, we went to a class on chemotherapy to inform us on how to handle side effects of treatment and get a feel of the treatment routine and facility layout. On Friday morning, Dad meets with the radiation oncologist and his medical oncologist on Monday morning, right before his 1st treatment, to review the results of the PET scan. I think we're all ready to get things moving although we're anxious to see how he will handle the treatment too.

In the meantime, we're following up a great Christmas with fun plans for New Year's Eve. Jonathan and Crystal are celebrating New Year's in Las Vegas and to commemorate Crystal's younger sister's birthday which was earlier this month. Meanwhile, Mom and Dad, Chris and I, along with Chris's mother and stepfather, will be enjoying a full course dinner at a new restaurant that we've been itching to try. It should be well worth the calories!

Here's to a FANTASTIC 2009! Cheers!!!