UNEXPECTED DOC APPT RESULTS IN GREAT NEWS!

John has been suffering from a swollen head (no, not a Big Head) and this condition had him in the Moffitt "Emergency Room" on Tuesday. The swelling has not involved his breathing, just his beauty. But it's been disturbing enough that Dr. Fishman decided to move the June 22 appointment up to this morning. We discovered that the swelling of his eyes, ears, nose and face is a side effect of Sutent (even though he's been off Sutent for a week) and that it will go away with massive doses of Benedryl over a few days. But the GREAT NEWS is that, while we were with Dr. Fishman this morning, we got to review the CAT scan from Monday.

The scan shows the tumor to be about 15% smaller. But, even better than that, it clearly shows that the blood flow to the tumor is greatly diminished - which is the actual result we were hoping for. Dr. Fishman said that the goal with Sutent had been reached - starving the tumor's blood supply. He really liked what he saw and said the next step is to keep John on a Sutent-type drug on an open-ended basis. Since Sutent has given him so many adverse side effects, the doctor recommended switching to Nexavar. John is to start on this new medicine after his side effects disappear and only at half-strength during our time in Hawaii. Then we will meet back with the doctor to reassess in late July. We are SO excited that our trip to Hawaii has now become a super reality! We are ready to take it easy and make some precious family memories in such a glorious location.