Moved to a new room at John Muir Hospital, Concord Campus, A3124

Hi Out There,
We are settling into a nice new room on the 3rd floor, the oncology floor where we should have been brought in the first place. Its ironic because there is pretty much concensus that Nan will be going home tomorrow afternoon. In a few minutes we start the Sprycel. Someone replied to the blog re: the compassionate use of AMN107. We believe the facts to be this, if you are going into a trial then you cannot have used anything but Gleevec and Sutent and failed both, but Nan would not qualify for the trial since her creatins are 2.8 and the upper limit is 2, also she has been on the IPI 504 trial and has had Rapamune, all of these mean the trial would be out of the question. However it is our understanding that the rules for compassionate use are much more relaxed than for the trial. On that basis we are proceeding with the first Sprycel pill this evening. The oncologist who visited today said that Sprycel is like Gleevec on steriods so we are at least hoping and praying for some relief from it. Dr. Melynk sent word today with Dr. Shoba that Novartis has already responded and requested additional information. Dr. Melynk was working on getting it together to reply to them. All of this is good news.

Our new room has a full bed for guests, lots of room and is very comfortable. We have a nurse that was with us before and we even included a picture of her and Nan about 7 weeks ago. She is young, full of energy, sings while she works and we just love her. What a privilege to get to have her again. Nan is getting her pills, oxycontin is now 60 mg in the morning and evening, they have a new medicine that replaces Acephix since that conflicts with the Sprycel, her TPN is in place and she is settling in for the night.

I ran over to SF this evening to shoot some comp photos and managed to get back just as they were moving her from the 4th to the 3rd floors, They used an entire hospital bed to hold all our things, computer, table, recliner, nans bag, computer bag and lots of other smaller things. I now have the room set up for office and visitors to be by Nan. As doctors came in today they discussed various things, Peter Benstock from infectious diseases mentioned that some of the tumor growth he saw in the CT scan appears to be necrotic, centers filled with fluid and sort of dying. He is wondering if the infection could be caused by escaping fluids from the tumors. It is his impression that Nan can go home with antibiotics to follow, then Dr. Shoba was also of the opinion that Nan might be able to go home tomorrow and the kidney doctor also thought she could probably head home. The exist planner came by to start the process as well. So there is a strong possiblity that Nan will be heading home tomorrow. She was put on full diet today and we helped that along with food from the Spaghetti Factory where Dana and I had lunch. She has had almost no nausea since being here and the fever was only with us for the first day.

Well Nan just took the first Sprycel. We had a brief prayer over the bottle before she took the pill asking God to be in control and to cause healing to take place. We are grateful to all those who have helped Nan be able to obtain Sprycel, that includes Dr. Melynk, Dr. Morgan and Travis. We are also thankful that the kidney doctor was sharp and noticed the conflict with anti acids.

Dana has been here most of the day and is feeling better again. She went grocery shopping on her way home and I'm promised Okra and potatoes when I get home, yea! I continue to be dizzy when I put my head down but can drive without a problem. I'm just not well yet and have a few pills left to take.

Per the message to the blog, Bob and Carrol are back safely from Lake Tahoe and their sad report about the fire is alarming, Tahoe is such a beautiful area and to think of it damaged and so many people out of their homes, well it is heart breaking. I have done a couple appraisals on homes in the very area that was burned and it was an area filled with trees, rolling hills and quiet.

Nan is much better this evening, her voice is no longer slurred, her thinking is clear and concise, her appetite is good and her outlook is more positive. She is happy to be on the 3rd floor and she thinks this bed is more comfortable than her prior one, all good things. We are glad that her care has been good and that once again the doctors and nurses have helped her get back on her feet.

I enjoyed reading the blog messages today, Wes always has a clever message which makes me smile in the morning when I read, we appreciate the positive encouragement from everyone and let me tell you it does make a difference to us. Human support is a wonderful manifestation of God's care. Irene is a great example of that and we thank her for coming yesterday. Nan continues to enjoy her little doggie that breathes thanks to Pam Whitted. Everyone thinks it is so cute and Nan really loves it as it reminds her of a little dog at home that is waiting for her return.

So tonight we once again ask for your prayers, prayers that Sprycel will work, prayers that God will cause Nan to recover and protect her from infections. Prayers that Nan will feel better, have more hope and be able to enjoy the arrival of Timothy and the wonderful medicine called Keanna.

We send our love,

tim and nan and dana