Health Update

On Monday Brad & I went in to see Dr. Lehane, an oncologist with Methodist hospital. We were wanting to establish a relationship with a doctor in Houston who could help us with any health matters while we were are here (ie. port problems, medication needs, overall case coverage.) We haven't really had a doctor closely watching Brad's case since Dr. Marco (our orthopedic oncologist).

We were pleased with our visit with Dr. Lehane. Dr. Lehane has been in practice for 35 years..he is calm, thurough and takes his time with the visits. When we saw him on Monday he asked about the treatments in Germany and how Brad was feeling, etc. Brad had bloodwork done that day and we scheduled a CT scan in a week. We will then take the results of that test with us when we return to Germany so that Dr. Thaller can see how Brad is progressing with the treatments.

Overall Brad is doing pretty well right now. Over the past week Brad has been bothered by a menacing cough and an occasional nighttime fever. Dr. Thaller told us when we left that Brad may experience some fever due to the continued treatments. The cough had gotten so bad in the middle of last week that it was keeping both of us awake many of the nights. However, the past several days have been much better. We have attributed the cough largely to the New Castle inhilation treatment that he receives 3 times a week. Until today, he hadn't received that inhilation treatment since Wednesday of last week and by Saturday the cough was much better. We gave him the inhilation treatment today and the cough is back (along with more fever). Dr. Thaller believes that the cough & fever are good signs of the treatment working....so that is encouraging.

Our plans are to return to Germany on August 2nd and we will be staying for 2 weeks. This trip will include us and Bryan Hanna (Brad's cousin). Everyone else will be staying here....the trip will be a lot easier without so many in tow. Since we are not staying as long, we both felt comfortable leaving the kiddos this time.

We would appreciate prayers for a safe, uneventful return trip. The treatments are always challenging but I pray that this stay is easier since we know what to expect and we have built some relationships with those in Markt Berolzheim. Thank you for all of your continued support for our family.