Scan-Day

Scan day was Monday, 7-18. CT of neck, chest, abdomen, and pelvis w/ and w/out contrast and MRI of brain w/ and w/out contrast. This stuff is no fun... but we have handled worse. And we had decided to treat ourselves to a fine dining experience the night after our scans. We were definitely feeling anxious pulling up in that awful parking deck at Emory knowing the tests that were ahead of us, but we got through the day because we knew we were going to be treated at Gainesville's newest fine dining establishments later in the evening.

ALAS...

A night of bottomless salad and bread sticks can't cure cancer, but it came close.

7-19-2011 RESULTS: Everything has either gotten smaller or is stable! This is an answered prayer. There are no new spots and the spots that remain are subcutaneous which means no major organs are involved. We walked away feeling good about our results, we even got some lunch beers to celebrate the good news.

Melanoma is different than any other disease or cancer. People do not go into remission of melanoma they just become NED (no evidence of disease). This is something we have come to terms with and we will continue to LIVE, fight, and manage it and strive for NED. We are currently exploring our options for our next vacation/treatment, because you can't have one with out the other. Options: IPI(first FDA approved drug in over 20 years), clinical trail, waiting a month or so and scan again.  We will get another opinion from Moffitt in the days coming and enjoy a few days at the beach.

With that said we are very pleased with the direction we're headed and know that it takes PERSEVERANCE and BALANCE. We have to "keep on keeping on" while maintaining a lifestyle of 26 yr olds.  We have felt the thoughts and prayers from LA to St. Simons and everywhere in between. Even the future of the Bravos:



To Neil
Keep Fighting
Stay Positive
Get Well Soon
Freddie Freeman #5