Summer Days

Well, it seems we are well into the dog days of summer even though it is only June. In an effort to stay cool and pass the time between appointments with Dr. Bhushan, we often take refuge at the local shopping metropolis that is called North Park. :-)

Yesterday Mom and Dad met with Dr. Bhushan to learn how well the lower-dose Thalomid was working for her. Turns out it is the drug her particular myeloma cells are defenseless against - one key metric had decreased from 890 to 475. We were thrilled to hear we are back making progress defeating her cancer. Mom and Dad were also told that this treatment plan would continue through the summer so that she would be in prime condition for the "Transplant Lite" - which is tentatively scheduled for August.

Dr. Bhushan shared his predictions for how myeloma research would progress in the next 5-10 years. Given the pace of progress in the past decade, it is reasonable to expect that Paula's Progress will be extended at a comparable clip as well. So we have good reason to avoid unreasonable risks with the transplants at this time. As you can imagine, this was all very encouraging news to hear.

We hope you are enjoying the Summer of '06 and keeping cool. For those of you who continue to faithfully share your love and encouragment with Mom and Dad each week, we are awed by your generosity of spirit. Thank you.

All the best
Mica


"This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God."
- 2 Corinthians 9:12