Update on Chris

Just wanted to let you all know that Chris is still a living miracle... he had his appointments in Houston yesterday for a bone scan, PET/CT, pulmonary function test, hearing test, and I'm not sure what all else. He kind of gave me a scare when he told me that he had a "hot" spot show up on his bone scan - this means that there was uptake of the contrast they injected him with prior to the scan. Uptake is usually indicative of a tumor in a cancer patient, but can also be other things like a fracture or break. The good news is the PET/CT does not show any evidence whatsoever of any metasteses - YES!!!!!! The PET/CT also does not show anything questionable where the hot spot showed up on the bone scan. Chris told his doctor about some really bad pain he has had in the rib area so he ordered a plain chest x-ray. Lo and behold, he has a cracked rib! He's actually had this pain since his surgery almost a year ago, but the doctor has now ordered an MRI which will hopefully give some evidence of why the bone is brittle and broke. At least we now know what all the pain has been from, and we both think that it was done during surgery - they actually removed one rib and took only 1/2 of another one - this allows for entry into the lung cavity and also for room to remove the lung. At this point, they're talking about killing the nerve at that rib (which sounds like a very minor procedure) and following up in 3 months - which will be nice since he's been having to go every 2 months. August 2nd will mark his one year anniversary from having his lung removed... his lung function test showed the same capacity now as he had the week before his lung removal! He's quite a young man... I wish all of you had the pleasure of knowing him. To say the least, I am very proud of him. He is my inspiration and a lot of my strength... and we give all this glory to God! I'll let you know if anything comes of the rib thing, but right now it doesn't look like there's anything to worry about. As of mid-August, Chris will be enrolled in college again and trying to live a "normal" life again.

Thanks for all of your prayers and good wishes...we are thankful for all.

Hugs,
Carolyn