Some good news from the North and the South

Sorry it's taken me a while to post since my trip back to South Carolina.

It was a tough visit, but one I'm very glad I made when I did.

My Dad was in good spirits and we accompanied him to many doctor appointments.

Overall, things went pretty well. My sis and I were able to "tag team" on a lot of tasks, helping my Mom and Dad out around the house and running errands.

The majority of the time there was spent arranging doctor's appointments, working out a strategy for getting a second opinion, and as a wonderful side note, checking out the cuteness of my new nephew, Miles Lincoln (see photo on the upper right, that's my Dad in the background).

Yeah, I know, lost razor, need to shave ;)

We met with Dad's medical oncologist, Dr. Carol Bogdan, on Thursday, August 2nd. She wasn't very optimistic about Dad's condition and at one point said in a matter of words that she wouldn't bother getting a second opinion.

Probably the look on all of our faces made her at once try to qualify her intractable statement.

I plan to write to the local paper there in Myrtle Beach, The Sun News, to warn people about this doctor.

In fairness, I will say that she was helpful in getting the necessary test results and reports forwarded on to the doctor we eventually went with in Boston, MA (long story), for the second opinion, Dr. Sugarbaker.

Kudos to my sister for finding out about this doctor at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and getting him an appointment there the following Monday afternoon, August 6th.

My Dad was really happy with Dr. Sugarbaker and his whole team of doctors. He was able to meet with some survivors of his type of cancer and given hope that his cancer may be in its beginning stages.

This Cancer Center in Boston is amazing! They have a network of support people to help with lodging as well as flights to and from the facility. Assuming my Dad qualifies for the clinical trial that they are running, he may be able to have his lodging and flights taken care of completely or at the least at a substantial discount. Needless to say, we were all just ecstatic at this development.

We'll know probably Monday or Tuesday of next week what the final verdict on whether Dr. Sugarbaker can treat my Dad. Will keep you posted.

Please keep my Dad in your thoughts and prayers.

And on that note, I will sign off for today.

Again, my apologies for taking so long to update the blog.

I really appreciate the calls and emails of support. They mean so much.

Drew