An update

It's been a month since our last posting - here's a short update:

My whole-liver radiation treatments came and went without too much difficulty.  I was treated twice-a-day for two weeks (a total of twenty treatments).  To improve accuracy (actually, to limit radiation dose to nearby, normal tissue like my right lung and kidney), I held my breath during these treatments: we did ten, 40-second breath holds at each session.  Not too difficult, but thank goodness for all that swimming in my past (a long time ago now...).  I did have some minor nausea after each treatment, but this was well controlled with medication.

As an added bonus, at the end of my radiation, I had a bout of shingles on my left chest (i.e., a reactivation of chicken pox).  Usually, this only happens to older adults, but can also happen to younger people, especially when the immune system is compromised.  It's very unlikely that this was directly caused by my radiation.  Rather, it was probably the general stress of all the treatments that I've had.

Shingles was as advertised (i.e., quite painful) but fortunately, it only lasted a few days and I had some good pain medication.  After this, Gwyneth and I took a short vacation to Bedford Springs, Pennsylvania (William stayed with George and Joan).  This was really wonderful and much needed!  Photos are here.  Shortly after this, we were all able to go to Houston to see my family for Thanksgiving and had a great time.

After we returned to Baltimore, I started on a daily, oral "biologic" agent called Sutent (sunitinib).  This drug inhibits several cellular receptors that are important for tumor blood vessel growth and also for tumor growth.  Unlike most traditional chemotherapies, this treatment is oral (so no IV infusion is necessary) and the side effects are pretty mild.  I have had some intermittent nausea and fatigue but overall, I've felt quite good.  We'll stay on this therapy as long as my regular CT scans don't show tumor growth.

That's about it!  We're looking forward to Christmas and William just had breakfast with Santa at the zoo; some video is here.  As always, we're so very thankful for your prayers and support.
Robert and Gwyneth