Good morning,

Mandy called this morning to give us an update on Chris' condition. She said that yesterday was pretty much a "sit and wait" day, although a few tests were run to address various issues. At one point the doctors thought Chris may have a blood clot near the port site, so a Doppler test was ordered. The test came back clear which indicated that there wasn't a clot in that area.

Chris' arm is very swollen and is approximately four times the size of his other arm. The orthopedic surgeon (Dr. Mollabashi) came by around 5:30 yesterday evening to speak with Chris and Mandy. He had reviewed the MRI and said that a very large tumor is surrounding the outside of the bone cement and metal plate. He could not tell for sure whether or not the tumor is in the bone as well. The doctor said that most likely this tumor has grown in this location because Chris was never able to have the required radiation on the arm following surgery last November. He was released mid-December to have radiation, but that is when he began to decline and went into the hospital. After three+ months in the hospital and then rehab, a new chemo regimen was begun to combat the new tumor growth and that type of chemo mixture could not be combined with radiation -- so the radiation never happened.

During the night last night, Chris' fever spiked to 102.1 and the doctors are concerned that he is still having fever issues even after being on high-powered antibiotics for six days. Mandy said that most of Chris' doctors have been to see him this morning and they have called in an infectious disease doctor who is ordering a specific test which will light up both tumor and infection so they can figure out exactly where the tumors are and where the infection is located.

Mandy had several specific prayer requests:
First of all, she and Chris are both frustrated because they basically have the "B string" of doctors at the moment. Teaching doctors are covering for Chris' regular doctors, and even though Mandy is sure they are good doctors -- she is worried about Chris getting the best possible care. The doctor who is filling in for Chris' oncologist (Dr. Konduri) has no bedside manner and is always in a rush, which leaves them with unanswered questions. Also, Dr. Konduri is not supportive of Chris having surgery on his arm. So, they have the orthopedic surgeon (Dr. Mollabashi) wanting to do the surgery to get the tumor and infection out of the arm, but Dr. Konduri is pushing them to wait until the infection is completely gone and Chris has time to recover. He is wanting them to wait about 4 or 5 weeks and Mandy feels that is not proactive enough considering Chris' condition.

The second prayer request is for wisdom to know what to do -- which decision to make. Since they have two doctors telling them opposite things, they are confused and need guidance. Please pray that the decision will become clear for them.
Chris' regular oncologist will not be back in town until July 2.

Mandy said that Chris is pretty out of it due to the pain medications he is taking. He is having a hard time distinguishing between dreams and reality, which is very hard on Mandy and the other family members who are staying there with him.

Mandy will let us know once the decision is made about scheduling the surgery on Chris' arm. And, she says thank you to everyone for your prayers and your support of their family.

~Kathie