A Holding Pattern

Technology and medicine have left me stunned through Justin's experience. With all the advancements we have made, there still is much to develop. Especially in the world of cancer.

That being said I will do the best to explain what the CT scan report says. In terms of Justin's original masses, he responded excellent to treatment. One of his masses is completely gone, the other is stable, and the last/largest tumor in his chest still shows at least a 50% reduction. Apparently it is very common to finish treatment and still have masses. That is why it is important to have radiation. Scar tissue can develop around the mass and could hide possible cancer. So radiation takes care of those little buggers.

There is one area of concern, on the right side of his lung. This is the same area that led to the bleomycin being taken out of Justin's treatment. Now there are four tiny masses showing and a CT scan cannot determine what it is. I can honestly say we are not sure what this means. It could be inflammation, infection, damage to his lung...

So we are in a bit of a holding pattern. We need to wait until he has a PET scan next week. A PET scan cannot be done until two weeks from the last chemotherapy treatment due to the risk of false positives. PET scans are very sensitive.

Our holding pattern includes: trips to Cleveland, daddy time for Jack and Justin, the PGA golf tour and anything else we can find to do. This is just our reality. We have learned the importance of patience and once again we will have to practice it. I will let everyone know as soon as we figure out what is going on. Thanks for all your love and support!