Sunday, April 18, 2010

Hap had an appointment on Wednesday with his main doctor to receive his monthly treatment injection and to discuss the surgeon’s report.
The surgeon had expressed his concern of one of the pelvic tumors growing into a nerve area. He is concerned that enlargement of this particular
tumor could result in encasement of the right sacral nerve roots; thus compromising the right leg functions and make surgery more complicated or perhaps impossible.

Hap’s main doctor would like to gather more information from two different scans. In May, Hap will have another octreoscan (nuclear) to determine the uptake (activity) in the tumors and another CT scan to determine growth. With the results of both, his doctor can decide if surgery is necessary to prevent future nerve complications.

This past month Hap also experienced a few episodes of “flushing”, which is usually a result from the liver. The only way to explain the flushing is to compare it to “hot flashes”. The scans will also be used to make sure the liver stability hasn’t changed.

Back in 2008, Hap had a dear friend tell him he would be with him each step of this race. Hap now refers to this race as a “marathon”.
Mary said he is a great marathon runner…staying focused, staying strong and trying not to miss a step.