National Day of Prayer/Cinco De Mayo Again!

Last year we were at NIH on Cinco de Mayo and the National Day of Prayer (last year they weren't on the same day). Woody had the first melanoma tumor removed last year on the National Day of Prayer. National Day of prayer this year (today) he was meeting with his research team to find out how his TIL (Tumor Infiltrating Leukocytes) cells are doing...whether they continue to destroy the melanoma in his body. AND...drum roll...they do continue to do what they are supposed to be doing! At this point, since last August when the procedure was done, the tumors that they are measuring continue to shrink. The doctor said that over all they have shrunk 45%!!!!!!!!! (Two months ago...it was 35-40%) The spot of melanoma in his liver is gone...as is a spot in his lung (which we guess now probably was melanoma since it has disappeared). We and the doctors are very, very pleased with the fact that "things" are still shrinking! Giving God the glory! LOTS has happened since last May 5th and 6th.

We stopped for the night in Troutville, VA, after a very long day that consisted mostly of waiting. We got to NIH at 10am. We put in the voucher request and then it was wait for the 1:00 clinic appointment. Woody read and I played around with settings on my camera. We went up to sign in for the clinic appointment at 11:45. And then sat, and sat, and sat, and sat. Woody ended up being the next to the last patient to be called back...and supposedly they call you in the order you sign in and we were about the third ones in the waiting room...unless all the others came in and signed in and then went for lunch or something. Anyway...we didn't get away from the clinic till 4pm. One nice event that happened during our wait was that we saw one of Woody's nurses from his three-week stay for TIL last summer. She is now one of the research nurses. Since it was so late and we wanted to get underway on the first leg of our trip home, they will be mailing him his antibiotic that he will continue to take...he's been taking an antibiotic three times a week since last August.

The clinic time lasting so long threw us into the midst of rush hour traffic on the Beltway...as Woody just said, no one was rushing, though! You can see that fact by the picture tonight. Tomorrow...the good Lord willin' I will be blogging from home.