Bobby in the lab...jeesh!

They took 11!!! tubes of blood!

Bobby is getting his admission testing...X-ray, EKG, & bloodwork...they took 11 tubes of blood!! Then, we have until noon ... then a meeting re: Clinical Trials

Donna and Bobby in the waiting room.

We are at NIH for the day (Wednesday)!!!

We're at N.I.H. !!!! I'll update later...we'll be here all day. :-)

We arrived at 0800 in Bethesda. We had to check in at the front gate. They let us park directly in front of the building. Perks!

UPDATE: It is now almost noon. We are killing time until our 1200 meeting with the social worker. She will go over lodging, meal reimbursements and travel arrangements. They mentioned that several times a day the volunteers roam the hospital with fresh cookies and coffee...I'll be following them! This place is so cool. We had Starbucks coffee this morning and are now chilling out in the library. Bobby is reading a railroad book. Of course...you know where I (Donna) am...here on the computer...talking to YOU! OK, gonna try to update the pictures.

I'll update more when we get home. Love to all.

THANK YOU BILL GREEN

MANY THANKS TO BILL GREEN FOR THE PICTURES WE NEEDED FOR THE MSP PHOTO/INFO BOOK!

Photos by Bill Green

Our JULIE....

Julie got selected to do 3 SOLOs in her Spring Concert!!! (beginning of May, Grandy)

She will be doing 2 duos and 1 SOLO!!! She is very excited. We are very proud of her!

Also, she leaves TONIGHT for Quebec, Canada for her class trip! We will miss you Julie Bug! Have fun! Mom & Dad elected to skip the 14hr. bus trip and give Julie some independence. They are travelling at night with plans that the kids (and parents/teachers) will sleep on the 14 hour trip. They arrive at noon on Wednesday and have a full day planned! We will post pictures after Julie returns (Saturday).

Up to Date News...Tuesday 3/18/08

Hello, it has been a long time since we've posted to the blog. That is a good thing! I guess I could be getting on and posting the good news that there is nothing to post? Still, not much going on, but I'll catch everyone up on what we're up to.

Bobby has an appointment next week at NIH in Bethesda for his first visit concerning the clinical trial. After his blood work came back and allowed him to be eligible, we contacted NIH. To be considered for the study, he had to have a recent MRI (yesterday) and CAT scan (in 45 minutes). He is currently drinking his BARIUM for the scan (yummm). If those scans are negative (and they should be), everything looks good for the clinical trial. I posted links to the trial information a few posts ago. We aren't sure what the process will include after we go for the first visit. We aren't sure when the first vaccine will be given but then he will go back every 3 weeks for another...for 33 weeks.

I'm sure the NIH process will be interesting. They are sending him consents "extensive" and will be calling us back today to answer some of our questions (about what happens after his first visit next week). I'll keep you posted.

Bobby is physically feeling fine. His scars are healing very well! Each week, the scarring is less and the swelling is improving. He looks great. There is still some concern and stress (and excitement) over all of these tests and appointments. Everything is working out very well...and falling into place. It will be great to see him back to work--regularly, as crew ASAP.

Thanks to everyone for visiting the blog and for leaving messages for Bobby in the Guest Book. We are very fortunate to have great friends and a wonderful family.

Shirley's Birthday--More pictures soon!

Sonja at Shirley's party!

CORRECTED link to Julie's News Clip

Thank you Grandy for bringing this to my attention. The link I had inserted previously was to a different Dr. Suess clip on the news but NOT the one with Julie in it. This link will take you to the news story and then you can click on WATCH VIDEO to see the clip. OR you can click HERE or THERE or click ANYWHERE. Click on THIS or THAT or even on this word that says CAT.

Your4State.com - Schools Celebrate Dr. Suess' Birthday By Reading Across America

If these don't work...I give up!

Thanks again Grandy!

Cancer Research - Neat (Techno) Information

For those very "science-loving" people...and who want lots of information...here is some of the stuff I'm digging up. I dig and dig. I'll post it here. Some of it is very interesting...some very ... well, who knows what they are even talking about....except this man...

Center for Cancer Research - Staff Pages Dr. Rosenberg is the head of the clinical trial research dept. at NIH.

The information on the clinical trials sounds promising. I like what I'm reading...
http://bethesdatrials.cancer.gov/melanoma/index.aspx

We believe this is the specific trial-This is interesting:
http://bethesdatrials.cancer.gov/melanoma/nci06c0069/default.aspx

This is the technical (superficial) stuff:
http://www.cancer.gov/search/ViewClinicalTrials.aspx?cdrid=465410&version=HealthProfessional&protocolsearchid=2324478

Clinical Trials (PDQ®) - National Cancer Institute

I believe this might be the clinical trial we are looking at.

Clinical Trials (PDQ®) - National Cancer Institute

The news is IN...

Dr. Sharfman called at 5:10. The results of his bloodwork came back today. Bobby WILL BE ABLE TO START THE PROCESS for trying to get into the clinical trial AT NIH! This is a good thing. (see previous post about blood types for the clinical trials). Dr. S told Bobby that his blood was HLA-A2–Positive . The NEXT step is to get current MRI and CT scans. He will have that done at the beginning of the week. They want to make sure there is nothing new. After those are done, they will contact NIH.

Needless to say, Bobby and I are very happy. The bloodtyping was a big hurdle...and he passed that! This means that he can start the clinical trial process INSTEAD of Interferon. AND, it is the NIH trial and not one farther away.

Enjoy your weekend...and thank you for all of the prayers---THEY ARE WORKING!

Julie in the News

CLICK HERE TO WATCH JULIE

There are 786 kids in Julie's school. It seems she is a magnet to the news crew when they show up. Maybe I'm the only parent that signed the release for publicity form? That's our Julie!


Please watch her 5 seconds of fame (most recent). She was also on the news for the first day of school. They interviewed her about school starting.

Waiting for news

We are waiting for news from JHU about the bloodwork. I called Dr. Sharfman's office again this morning to check. As soon as they call, I will 1. Call Bobby and 2. Post the news here on the blog. You will know as soon as we do. I'm excited about the potential and the possiblilties for the clinical trials.

P.S. Lexi and Maybelline returned from the vet's office. 2 happy, non-reproducing kittens!

A loss to many

We wish to express our deepest sympathy to the family and colleagues of Dr. Phillips. He died Sunday, unexpectedly. The Maryland State Police will miss him dearly. He was the MSP agency physician.

Dr. Phillips had seen Bobby a few weeks ago in Pikesville when he put Bobby on "light-duty" and allowed him to go back to work. He showed compassion and true dedication to his profession. The conversation he had with Bobby was impressive and made a positive impact on Bobby's thoughts and outlook. He spoke fondly of his wife and family. He talked about the enjoyment he got from watching the helicopters fly in and out of Baltimore.

Bobby, and I'm sure many, many others are very saddened by this loss.

We will miss you Dr. Phillips. The impact you have left will last forever.

http://www.legacy.com/baltimoresun/DeathNotices.asp?Page=LifeStoryPrint&PersonID=104963802

Our (not so much) News

We called to check on Bobby's bloodwork yesterday. Dr. Sharfman is out of town until Wednesday. They said that he may call us back anyway (but he hasn't so far).

Stay dry (for those of us in the east)

Things have been pretty quiet

There hasn't been much going on here lately. We are going to call today to check on the blood work from Hopkins. Friday was 10 days. That will be the news in the next post. It will be big news . Hopefully, it will be good news which would mean that Bobby would be able to get into one of the clinical trials and not have to consider interferon.

Let's see, today is Monday, March 3. Bobby will go to work, the kids to school, and Donna will take two of our cats to Inwood, WV to be spayed. There is a program called "Spay Today" which has great prices! You set everything up through them and they were wonderful to work with. The only drawback (living where we do isn't so bad) is that you have to use one of their vets. The best one for us is in Inwood, WV. But, it is saving about 300.00!

Lindsey will get off of school at noon but then goes to college in the afternoon. Julie probably has chorus after school today. Dan rides the bus home. Then, we'll have to go back tonight or in the morning on Tuesday to pick up the (fixed) girls...in Inwood.

As soon as we hear anything about the blood work or the clinical trials, it will get posted here. Have a great week and thank you for visiting!