Hello,

First off, thank you so much to those 110 or so folks who helped to make SWELL's Open House/Eff Cancer party on Saturday a blast.  It was a fitting end to this phase of his treatment, to be surrounded by so many different people who have supported us in 100 or so different ways.  They  flew (Cali, Chicago, Michigan), drove, walked, and the smart ones Ubered; we all ate, drank, and I have to boast the kids seemed to have a a grand ole time.  
 
News: Whit had some scans last week, and some this week.  Well, the results from last week look promising.  There is no cancer in his body or primary tumor sites or around his eyes.  His skull is still showing uptake on one of the scans, but when this MIBG was examined along with an MRI of his head, it appears the trouble spot in his skull diminished in thickness.   This is a positive thing.  

Right now, everyone is assuming the cancer in his head is either mature cells done dividing and just hanging out, or some other type of residual uptake left over from his radiation treatment.  So we will wait it out, just letting this spot disappear (cross fingers now) on its own with diligent monitoring.  They aren't positive about what is going on in his head though, but they have done everything possible and something seemed to have worked.

So, we are calling it a win for now.    We should be done with active treatment; his Broviac line is coming out and we are going to throw him in the pool.   He just need to get scans every three months, manage all the long-term side-effects, and hope the cancer stays away.

Today, we are going to shut this site down (if he relapses we will open it up) and watch the All-Star Game.  Next fortnight, we see if he is eligible for a couple preventative medical measures (New York and Grand Rapids) to reduce the chance of recurrence from around 50% to around 20%, and then  we will have all the fun we missed out on for the last two years.


Love you all. Give blood.

Fuck cancer.

SWELL