Thursday, June 16, 2011

Superman Strength

I always like to start off thanking all of the friends and family that write, call, visit, etc.  The love and energy is by far the best medicine.

As you all know, Dad received more chemo on Monday and has been doing two-a-day radiation treatments everyday.  The chemotherapy is administered in Methodist's new outpatient center and the building is less than a year old.  In the designing of the building they gave all of the rooms numbers as well as names.  Most of the building has a water theme.....the infusion suite is a bit different.  Echo and I felt the name of Dad's room was quite fitting.

STEVE/SUPERMAN/STRENGTH....I'm seeing a theme here :)























On Wednesday (June 15) we had a consultation with MD Anderson.  I'm unable to say enough "thank yous" to all the folks that helped us expedite this process and get him on Dr. Sherman's schedule!  MD Anderson said only about 500 are diagnosed with anaplastic thyroid cancer each year and they see about 15-20 cases at their facility.  As any good physician does, he went over all of the characteristics and "bad behavior" that this cancer is known to have.  The good news is MD Anderson has probably the most experience and individualized treatment plans for this disease and their resources are extensive as they head national "meetings of the minds" regarding thyroid cancer with all of the major players across the country - Mayo, Johns Hopkins. etc.  Dr. Sherman chairs this national committee..... I think we found our man.  The team at Anderson had some interesting points to make about Dad's individual case and the exact make up of the cancer in his throat and lungs.  We are definitely dealing with anaplastic thyroid cancer, but there may be more to it.  It's probably premature to discuss it too much at this point, but we are very glad we went to MD Anderson.  The more eyes and minds we can access, the better!  After Dad's initial radiation/chemo combination therapy is complete I imagine we will transfer care over to Anderson.

One last bit of good news for today - an update on the Superman Bands!  As of today Pam has distributed 210 bands all across the nation and globe.  This is very exciting and we hope everyone is able to pass them along as planned.  We really look forward to seeing the pictures of everyone wearing the bands in support of Steve.  Also, I heard Dad logged quite a lot of gym time again today.

Thanks again for all of comments to Steve on the blog!

2 comments:

  1. Save some of those bands for us!!! We will pick them up when we come to town. Thank you, Ryan, for all of the wonderful updates. Your dad truly is an amazing and strong person...a "SUPERMAN!" Reading the update about driving the ambulance made me laugh out loud even though I had already heard the story once from Pam. Looking forward to seeing y'all next week!! Much love, Kim, Brett & Davin

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  2. The bands are a great reminder to keep praying for Steve. We're praying for doctors' wisdom and complete healing. Hang in there Steve!
    Kathy and Johnny McClellan

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