Faith, Family, & Friendships

Although we never did receive the CT scan CD from Methodist through the mail, we did, however, receive news of the CT report by way of email. Dr. Thaller shared that information with us so we wanted to let everyone know the most recent info. From the written report, while we do not know with certainty about the size of the primary tumor, we do know that some of the tumors in the lungs have increased in size and there were 2 more tumors found in Brad's right leg (one in his femur, close to his hip & another in front of the tibia bone that is a visible mass just beneath the skin).

Thaller used an ultrasound machine on Thursday & Friday to inject the visible tumor with Coley's and New Castle virus. The injections have made Brad's knee very sensitive.

This morning Brad went into a hospital at Truchtlingen for a resection of the visible tumor. This outpatient surgery proved to be more painful that Brad or I anticipated. The surgeon had to make a larger incision than expected. Brad's leg is very sore now to say the least and I am praying that he is able to stay comfortable during the flight.

Dr. Thaller decided to send Brad in for surgery this morning because he wanted the tumor cells harvested to use to "prime" the dendritic cells. We used tumor cells with the dendritic cells during our first treatment, so Thaller is hypothesizing that the "tumor priming" may be a key piece of the first treatment's success. Brad will also continue infusions every day, including the very lengthy sodiumbicarbonate infusions. Thaller has also started a new injection with Brad called 'Gaypon.' Gaypon is drug derived from potato sprouts and has been shown to work very effectively with the killer cells.

We are truly praying for a miracle concerning Brad's health. Dr. Thaller assured us that "We will not give up so easily" so Brad concluded that the fight is on! I am so proud of this man and he tenacity to not give up. When the going gets tough...he just seems to get tougher.

Thank you for your prayers on our behalf. We love you all.