Houston

Mom and Dad spent their last day in Houston today after a series of tests and appointments. Mom said that it felt very, very strange to be sitting next to Dad, both of them wearing hospital bracelets. I'm sure it was quite the bonding moment!

Anyway, Mom's test came up clear; but she only had an MRI on her thyroid and some blood tests (I believe). Her thyroid has been enlarged for some time, but today it was looking much smaller and normal. Good news. She isn't scheduled for any major scans until her next follow-up appointment in a few months.

Dad received good news and bad news. The good news: The oncologist was very impressed with how well Dad has responded to his chemotherapy. His tumors are shrinking considerably, and things look good. Because Dad is responding so well, they're actually going to reduce his treatments to 5, instead of 6! Yeehaw! If all stays on schedule, Dad will finish his treatments in October, instead of November! The bad news: Dad's blood and platelet counts were so low (anything under 10,000 requires a transfusion, and Dad was at 7,000) that they immediately sent him to get a transfusion. He got 2 units of blood tonight and one round of platelets. He was wearing a mask during our conversation (hopefully I heard all of this correctly through his muffled voice). All of this means that Dad's energy and immunities are VERY, VERY, VERY low. He was glad to know why he has been so lethargic over the last few days. Hopefully, his transfusion helps. Yay for blood donors!!! He also had what appeared to be a small infection in his lungs, so he was put on antibiotics for an additional week.

Mom and Dad had originally planned to fly out of Houston tonight, but because of Dad's little snag, they'll stay the night in Houston, then fly home tomorrow (wearing a mask, of course!).