I don't have a great deal to report. I'm mostly adding a new post because Scott requested that I "put something else up so my hideous head will be bumped farther down the blog." 

Scott has been feeling better and better and we even walked about 3 miles to Lake Murray (pictured below).

We also found out this week that our appointment with the expert at Cedars-Sinai will be on Nov. 1. 

We figured that it would be a lot less dramatic to buzz Scott's hair before it starts falling out. I was happy about that for two reasons: 1. I hated his last haircut, and 2. I got to first shave a Mohawk. He would not let me put mousse in his hair to make the Mohawk look better, but I'm still pleased with my work. 

Also, Scott wanted me to let everyone know how much he has loved your emails. And he's sorry he has not always felt well enough to email everyone back. But he will!

Got Scott down to Sunset Cliffs on Saturday, too. We walked the beach with our buddies the Webers, and Scott got to catch up with some of his "office mates" enjoying a sneaky northwest swell that filled in throughout the afternoon. He was a little jealous, yet joyful, watching friends trade waves at his favorite reefs. 

Tons of nausea still but we had a good weekend nonetheless. And we just finished a big dinner with the Hiros. Scott ate a massive burrito and then finished mine. 

Sunset Cliffs - Nausea is just better with an ocean view

A bit of a rough start to the day. Scott was feeling chemo weary, so he spent his final day of this round of chemo napping. I'm still not certain he wasn't pretending to sleep so I wouldn't beat him again at Cribbage. The nausea has also kicked in full force but with a concoction of pretty much everything we have on hand, the nausea is somewhat managed. Not perfect, but at least he's able to hold some food and water down.

Also, Scott had another echo done today and we were pleased to find out that the pressure on the heart has not gotten worse. We are hoping that the chemo will help shrink the tumor a bit and that we'll begin to see improvement in the pressure on the heart. We will see the cardiologist again in a few weeks.

Many people have asked us how Maz is doing with all this. Luckily we have some very nice neighbors and friends picking up the slack for us. He's so accustomed to playing at all their houses that he doesn't really think it's that unusual. I told him to ask me any questions he would like but he doesn't have many. He seems to be absorbed by his usual activities and that pleases us immensely. Even if it does mean that Scott gets an 8-year-old beat down after a day of chemo.

Enjoying the afternoon sun after Day 3 of chemo

Chemo, Day 2, down. After a rest in his new backyard lounge chair and suffering a bit of nausea, Scott rallied in the evening to eat a big meal — pesto pasta made with freshly picked basil from the garden — that involved going back for thirds.

Scott walked about three miles today, including an evening trek with Casey around the San Carlos Park. Now Scott and Maz are playing "War" in the backyard. From what I can see, it involves attacking each other with swords, Nerf bullets and various balls. Maz keeps yelling things like, "Look, Dada, a monarch butterfly over by the fence!" or "Buffalo in the sky, Dada! Look!" Then when Scott looks, Maz pegs him in the back. And Scott keeps falling for it over and over.

Other news from the day: I beat Scott at Cribbage twice. The chemo seems to have really dimmed his wits.

Some of you have mentioned that you have had trouble posting comments. We think we've fixed the problem. Now anyone should be able to post whether you have a gmail account or not.

Chemo Day 1 complete. We were scheduled for 9 a.m. so we got to walk Maz to school and I got to pick him up. It was nice and in that one way, at least, it seemed like a normal day. Just like everyone else, we get up, get dressed, get our kid to school and then head off to get poison infused slowly over four hours. Oh, wait, maybe that was a bit different than the average person's day. We are definitely still grappling with the reality of the situation. Scott has two more days of chemo this round and so far he's feeling fine. His oncologist says that people don't usually get sick immediately. We have a lot of anti-nausea medication at home so hopefully he will be able to get through the nausea with minimal discomfort. Tomorrow we are going to bring a game to chemo. That way he won't become nauseated by my conversation.

This past weekend our friend John Knapp (and his little guy Wyatt) was visiting. Scott put him to work fighting the crabgrass on our slope. John did a great job, but he suggested that a better idea would be for Scott to simply pee on the weeds with his chemo-tinged urine. We'll keep you all posted on that progress as well. ;)

We will see the cardiologist again on Wednesday and will have another echo done then.

We started the day with worry and ended the day with a great deal of hope and relief. Scott had another echo this morning and the cardiologist noticed compression of his pulmonary artery and increased pressure in his right ventricle. The best solution is to get the chemo underway so that the tumor can shrink and relieve the pressure on his heart.

Scott finished the final day of his OctreoScan this afternoon and we saw his oncologist afterwards. And we were so relieved to learn that the tumor has NOT metastasized! Scott also received his first injection of Sandostatin, which is supposed to prevent the tumor from growing. Chemo could not be scheduled for tomorrow so he will start chemo on Monday for three days. He will get an 18-day rest and then do another three-day round. Seven years ago, Scott shaved his head in solidarity with his brother, Bo, when he was fighting cancer, so we already know that Scott looks very handsome bald. He wanted me to include the Shel Silverstein poem "Wavy Hair":

"I thought that I had wavy hair
Until I shaved. Instead,
I find that I have straight hair
and a very wavy head."

The trip to Cedar-Sinai was pushed back to the end of October or beginning of November. Our oncologist talked to the oncologist up there and both agreed that the tumor needed to be shrunk a bit and the heart stabilized before starting any clinical trials. There are some interesting trials involving radioactive target medications. We will learn more when we head up there. Scott is happy he will be able to help them advance their research.

Wednesday, Sept. 11

We started the day with the second of three OctreoScans. We hope to learn the results tomorrow evening. We also met with a radiation oncologist. We learned that the tumor is not a good candidate for radiation for a few reasons:
1. It's too big
2. It's a low-grade tumor and low-grade tumors don't generally respond well to radiation, and
3. If we radiate the tumor it would make it more difficult to possibly resect it at a future date.

So the plan remains to start chemo on Friday.
We did learn today that when Scott turns his head to the right, his hoarseness disappears and his voice returns to somewhat normal. At one point, he turned his chair 90 degrees, to face the wall instead of the doctor, then cranked his head 90 degrees starboard to facilitate communication. So if you want to talk to him, I'd suggest standing on his right. :)