dr appointment Tuesday May 4

well, we met with the dr who removed the tumor from jason's airway in January, on Tuesday. we decided that it would be best to go in and remove it once again. It is about half the size as it was in January, and growing. He talked of this treatment, photodynamic therapy {PTD}

in the first step of PDT for cancer treatment, a photosensitizing agent is injected into the bloodstream. The agent is absorbed by cells all over the body but stays in cancer cells longer than it does in normal cells. Approximately 24 to 72 hours after injection , when most of the agent has left normal cells but remains in cancer cells, the tumor is exposed to light. The photosensitizer in the tumor absorbs the light and produces an active form of oxygen that destroys nearby cancer cells. In addition to directly killing cancer cells, PDT appears to shrink or destroy tumors in two other ways . The photosensitizer can damage blood vessels in the tumor, thereby preventing the cancer from receiving necessary nutrients. In addition, PDT may activate the immune systemto attack the tumor cells.

we are hoping to be able to do this, we just have to get the OK from the radiologist, which im sure we will have no problem....and hopfully it will completely kill the tumor in jason's airway. We wont be able to have it work on any other spots due to the facts that a light has be shown on the tumor to activate the chemical... but one down 6 more to go!! :) {hopefully}

So thursday is the planned day to go in and start all this :)