An Update as of 5-14-13

We are blessed to have wonderful doctors on our team! Bryn has, of course, been the star of our team. And thanks to a willingness to fit us into an already busy schedule, we were able to meet with our team captain, our neurologist, Dr. Blair Marsteller, while Bryn was in town to stay with Bob while I was at a conference. During that meeting, it became evident that Bob was going to need another round of one of the chemo drugs he was on in the fall. Dr. Marsteller made arrangements for Bob to be admitted to the hospital on Thursday and he also recruited a new member of our team, Dr. Kim Slesinger, an oncologist, to administer that medication. He also made use of our time in the hospital to once again start a round of the IV Steroids that Bob responded to well this winter, as well as to order other tests such as a CT Scan, a spinal tap, and more bloodwork to send to the world expert, Dr. Dalmau, in Spain. Dr. Marsteller also recruited yet another smart doctor to our team. We will be traveling to see Dr. Pittock, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, in early June. Dr. Pittock specializes in autoimmune neurology, one of only a few in this new specialty.

Bob has been doing better since starting on this new round of treatments.   The frequency and duration of his “episodes” has been reduced significantly. We are hopeful that there are answers to be found and that we have the right team in place to find them.

Thank you for your continued prayers and concern.

-Megan

Update:

Happily, Bob was only hospitalized for 2 days to receive the necessary dosage of Rituxin that he needed. In typical Bob and Megan style, life gave them a wonderful weekend of celebration as Megan was awarded the 2012 Thomas Ashley Graves, Jr. Award from The College of William and Mary during graduation on Sunday. Saturday evening, they attended a black tie event where Megan was also recognized for her esteemed work in education. As Bob said in an e-mail to family this weekend, "This was Megan's big day. Enjoy the pictures; trust me: I am sending you the best of too many!"

-Michelle