Another round of chemo

Jade and Mason and Papa Greg drove back to Calgary last Tuesday. The #1 highway was still closed beyond Maple Creek but they made a quick detour through Golden Prairie which saved a couple of hours. Mason went back into the Calgary Childrens Hospital on Wednesday for round 5 of chemo for this year. He is on day 4 and is doing really well. If all continues to go well he will be finished the chemo tomorrow, Sunday, and will be discharged on Monday. Justin and Kale will hopefully be driving up to Calgary by then also. Still no word on upcoming treatments.
   Picture of Mason at Bowness Park in Calgary on June 13th.

Mason is in Moose Jaw!!!!!

Mason had been scheduled to return to the Calgary Childrens Hospital on Friday for more chemotherapy. This decision was made on Thursday following a lengthy meeting with Dr. Brindel, Mason's surgeon, and Dr. Struthers, the head oncologist. More testing will be required prior to a decision regarding further surgery. The P.E.T. scan did not turn out to be as effective as was hoped, probably due to residual chemotherapy drugs still in Mason's system which dampened the normal biological processes that were to be studied. In the meantime, more chemotherapy will hopefully continue to shrink the tumors. The doctors are very happy with the amount that the tumors have reduced in size.
    Blood tests that were done on Friday morning revealed that Mason's blood levels were not high enough yet for further chemotherapy and Jade was given the green light to make a quick trip home for the weekend.
    It didn't turn out to be such a quick trip!! Flooding, due to record rainfall at the Alberta/Sask. border, closed the Trans-Canada Highway and Jade and Mason were forced to make a 5 hour detour - north at Dunmore (just east of Medicine Hat) to Oyen, then east to Rosetown and south again to Swift Current - on secondary highways that have never seen such traffic (5,000 vehicles per day)! The flooding that went through Maple Creek is the worst ever recorded!
    Jade and Mason arrived home at 1:30a.m. They will likely have to return to Calgary again on Monday.
    The pictures are of Mason at a playground near to Uncle Rick and Aunt Bev's. Feeding ducks, paddle boating and enjoying Bowness Park in Calgary. Mason entering the P.E.T. scanner. Two pictures of flooding across the Trans-Canada Highway.

Back to Calgary once again!

    Mason and his Mum drove back to Calgary on Tuesday. Mason had a CT Scan on Wednesday and was scheduled for a P.E.T. Scan today but this Scan was postponed until tomorrow. From "Wikepedia" : Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine imaging technique which produces a three-dimensional image or picture of functional processes in the body.  PET scans are increasingly read alongside CT or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, the combination ("co-registration") giving both anatomic and metabolic information (i.e., what the structure is, and what it is doing biochemically).
    Jade is requesting as many prayers and positive thoughts as possible right now since these tests are to determine how effective the chemotherapy has been. As usual, Mason is his same happy, positive self.

     Your loving thoughts and prayers are most welcome at this time.