Scan Update

PHOTOS IN THIS POST ARE OF WILLIAM AND SOME OF HIS NURSES FROM SUTTER.

Yesterday, William had a PET scan done at City of Hope. Shortly after the scan was completely my mom, William and I met with Dr. Anderson. Now, before I get into the preliminary results from the scan, let me explain how it works. In a PET scan, William is given a nuclear sugar mixture that the cancer cells absorb. The uptake amount of the nuclear mixture into the cells are measured in the densities or brightness levels that appear on the scans. Normal cells have an SUV (standard uptake value) of around 1 to 2. Cancerous cells are higher and are normally around a SUV of 5.  The more uptake a cell has, the brighter it shines on the PET.  So basically, an active, thriving and living cancer cell eats a lot of the nuclear mixture and therefore appears as a bright spot on the scan. If a cell has an SUV of around 2 to 4 then the brightness of the cancer is not as apparent.  

 I am happy to report that Dr. Anderson was extremely excited about what he saw in yesterday's scan. Even though the radiologist has not yet done his official review on the scan results, Dr. Anderson said "William did not light up like a Christmas Tree" as he did in February of this year. 

I cannot tell you how happy we all were to hear the news! Even though William does still have a few bright bright spots,  they are significantly less than they were! The spleen, pelvic lymph node, and one large tumor in the liver were the only bright spots ;)

Dr. Anderson took the time to actually bring up all the scan on a computer monitor and show us the amazing results! The chemo that the Sutter team did on William worked, there is no denying it but, Dr. Anderson did tell us that now, before the cancer becomes chemo resistant, it was time for us to start on our path down aggressive treatments. On Monday, William will start 5 days of Ifosphomide and VP16 with a bladder protection Rx, Mesna. William's extreme bladder damage caused by the first two rounds of chemo (P6) in April of 2010 forces us to be careful with the types of chemo used, however we also need to be aggressive enough to shock and kill the remaining caner. Dr. Anderson is working with his colleagues to determine the best dosage for William.

Step 2.  After 5 days of Chemo, we will return to the Long Beach house for approximate 10-14 days. During that time William will receive daily Neupogen injections to stimulate the growth of white blood cells. Around day 10, we will return to the hospital for daily blood draws. Like fertility tests, there is a "magic hour" or a window of opportunity during which William's body will have produced enough stem cells for the doctors to go in and "rescue" them so that they can be used in his bone marrow transplant.  

Step 3. 5 Days of chemo
Step 4. 21 days of recovery

Step 5. 5 Days of Chemo

Step 6. 21 days of recovery

Step 7. BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT!

If all goes as planned, the BMT (Bone Marrow Transplant) will be done in Late June or Early July.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT WILLIAM WILL BE NEUTROPENIC FOR A LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG TIME AFTER HIS BMT.  
As you can imagine there will be plenty of other medical procedures and events happening after the BMT is done. = Whole liver radiation and surgery is obviously going to be a big part of treatment but, for now our road map for the next 3 months is set in stone!

Keep on Keeping on.

Live Strong in the evidence that miracles are happening in Sir. William's body!