In addition

More good news. Cisplatin is a high dose chemo that Kevin took during chemotherapy. It was the heaviest of the chemo's and the one that can lead to a few longer term side effects including hearing loss. He had his audiology test this morning, and he did great! This includes the high pitches that cisplatin can especially damage. There are no guarantees she said, but a typical case of hearing loss would have surfaced in some form by now. He's showing absolutely no hearing side effects. His speech test also went well. We have some exercises to practice for both phsyical and occupational therapy. The head physical therapist said now is the time to push him a little. It's just like building up for a marathon. She recommended he particpate as much as possible in gym class, and set goals to improve on. His gym class often runs a few laps, and he should start trying to improve every week on how many laps he runs. He's in no danger, and will actually start to feel more confident as he accomplishes tangible goals. We will probably sign him up for Karate (which he participated in prior to his illness) to assist in regaining his balance, strength and endurance. We were thrilled most of all, as Rachel said that his scans are clean. This is close to 11 months since he's had an MRI showing any cancer. It's more importantly 4 months of clean scans since the end of treatment. We have a long road ahead, but each clean scan will be met with celebration and a step closer to being cured.

On a personal note it's been nice to see Ali here with Aileen and his wife. I've had a chance to spend some time with his family, which was a treat. I look forward to return home soon, and have another 3 months of normalcy.

Eric