Home Again

We returned home again yesterday, once again compliments of TMW Enterprises (thanks Tom Wheeler!). Chase ate a great breakfast at IHOP and is continuing to regain his strength since the surgery. He rested during the flight back, while Barbara watched a movie on his portable DVD player - all in all, what you'd expect from 5 and 6 yr olds.

We were glad to have a successful conclusion to our week in Memphis, with Chase's biopsy / "de-bulking" seeming to have caused no side effects. The staff at St. Jude's was very helpful and ready / willing to provide whatever guidance and resources they can to support Chase; however, they understand our desire to locate more progressive treatment plans and they provided referals to Duke and Mass Gen (for Proton Beam).

By the time we left Memphis, we had received confirmation that Chase would qualify for entry directly in the trial that we were interested in at the Burzynski Institute in Houston. They gave us an appointment for this coming Tuesday morning to go over the details of the program, and if we choose to proceed, he can begin treatments right away. In order to prepare for this, we were able to schedule a procedure at our local hospital (Beaumont) for Monday morning to install a port / shunt in his chest for the treatments to be administered. The therapy developed by Dr. Burzynski (anti-neoplastons) is rather non-conventional but seems to have a lot of promise for this exact type of condition with minimal side-effects (no long-term physical deficits).

While we are in Houston, we will also be meeting with MD Andereson to review Chase's file and condition and evaluate any treatment programs that they can suggest (although they are likely to be "conventional" - radiation with chemo). We are not closing the door to these kind of options, but we're leaving them as a last resort, if the non-invasive approaches don't work.

So here we go again, ready to embark upon another exciting week where we will be traveling and meeting more doctors who have extensive experience with this type of condition and hoping to finally kick-off a treatment program that will enable Chase to get on with his recovery.

We will also be hearing back from the Nutritional Expert with a detailed report / plan for us to manage Chase's diet over the course of his treatment program. In addition, we received an e-mail back from the Homeopathic Doctor in India confirming his recommended treatment for Chase's condition - we plan to review this with the Nutritionist to ensure that it doesn't conflict with the medication he'll receive during the trial, as well as her recommended diet.

We felt the power of everyone's prayers over the weekend as we attended our service as well. We know that we couldn't be handling this stressful situation nearly as well as we have been able to manage it without all the support and prayers we have received. Chase's rapid recovery from the surgery is certainly miraculous already and we believe God is allowing his plan to unfold perfectly for Chase. Everything fell right in place by the end of the week for the next phase in his treatment plan to begin immediately this week - we are truly blessed.

Thanks again for all your support and prayers! They mean the world to us right now.

Love,

John & Carol