News from Howard's Big Adventure

“The results were ideal.” What does that mean? “The tumor is dead.” Hearing those words were akin to discovering the elusive Fountain of Youth. It had been 30 days since the chemo had been administered directly into the tumor. By all medical accounts, the hope was to shrink the cancer down by 1 centimeter, at minimum. There was almost an offhand comment made that someone once had the entire tumor destroyed with the procedure. They didn’t dwell on that, but I did. Not to mention the 100’s of people around the country who had been praying. And, it happened. Somehow between the chemo and the prayers, all that remained was the carcass of a creature that had invaded my body. Why it happened for me and not one of the others who remain on our prayer list is a mystery. I will never understand. I can only be grateful for my results and continue to pray for the others. The next step now is to really kill the tumor. On February 25 I will return for a specialized radiation treatment to pummel what remains. Talk about beating a dead horse! They want to make absolutely certain that not a single cell remains. This particular tumor has a high incidence of returning. I will receive two or three treatments that week and be done, at least for that stage. Those treatments will carry me to March 1 and a ticking clock. I must go 3 months without a recurrence or a new tumor. Assuming that happens, A CT scan will verify it and on June 4 I can officially be put on the transplant list. During those three months, the radiation remains in my body and continues to work. That will help carry me right up to the day that I can be put on the list. As a reminder, I have to have a transplant because my disease is genetically based. The day they remove my current liver, they will also remove the defective gene. The new organ will heal me completely. That has been our goal now for two years but the cancer put me on a fast track for that to happen sooner than expected. Over the last three weeks I have been very sick because of some creepy crawly that is yet to be diagnosed. I have been assured that this plague is completely unrelated to my liver. I have lost a lot of weight because I am not getting the nourishment I need, despite having a good appetite. While it is nice to eat ice cream and cake in abundance, I would much rather be well. Hopefully my doctor will be able to help when I see him this week. We continue to thank God for your many prayers. We ask that you continue. Each stage is critical. Howard and Jana