He's doing well!

Byron's surgery went well but it was very long - 8.5 hrs. Uggh. They
got all 3 tumors out but one broke open and spilled, which could be
bad. All the more reason for chemo to follow. Hopefully it was all dead tissue - they will do pathology and we
will soon know if the chemo was working. They had to remove a vein
completely and part of an artery, so he will have leg swelling for a
month or so until things repair and reroute. All of his organs are
intact and that is very good news. So all in all, it was a very
successful surgery. They let me see him around 10 PM last night and
he was very out of it - hopefully he'll mostly sleep for the next
couple of days. I'm off to the hospital now - yea!
Thanks for all of your love and support. We had a great weekend and I will be putting up some pictures from his shows this weekend soon.

Plan of Attack

We saw Byron's surgeon, Dr. Canter, today, and we are feeling optimistic. He showed us CT scans from December and compared them to CT scans done in October. You could see that the mass is larger, but you could also see less bright spots on the December scan. Apparently the brighter spots indicate more active tumor growth, so this is a good thing. Dr. Canter said this supports Dr. Christiansen's idea that parts of the tumor are probably responding to the chemo and dying. That makes surgery a better option. The cancer is less likely to just come back somewhere else after surgery if live cells are not left in Byron's body. Also, if they do find that the tumor is largely necrotic, that tells us chemo was working and makes post-surgery chemo more hopeful.
Byron is scheduled to go to surgery at the end of this month. It will be a long surgery and not an easy one, but the doctor seems confident. We expect Byron to be in the hospital for a week or so. Once he's home recovery will take 6 - 8 weeks, and then Byron will probably have to undergo a couple more chemo cycles after that. We are nowhere near the end of this journey, but we are feeling optimistic and hopeful.
Thanks for all the love and concern you have all shown us. We treasure our family and friends and know we are very blessed to have you all on our team.
We had a great weekend and saw lots of great people out and about this Second Saturday. We loved the art at Body Tribe - nice to see the Roto-Zip working for Mark Fox! We also loved Nicole Fox's new venture into painting large scale. Thanks to Deb, Omar, Liz, and Dugan, who made the trek into midtown. Byron loved the opportunity to play with Victor and Tom at the Weatherstone, and it sounded great. Sunday's Java Lounge jam was fabulous as well.


Victor, Tom, and Byron at the Weatherstone Saturday night

Re-evaluating the Plan

So we saw the oncologist today and unfortunately, the mass appears to be bigger despite the 2 rounds of chemo. This could be a sign that the tumor is dying, and that would be good, so they will do a PET scan Friday to get more info about that. We will also chat with the surgeon Monday. After that, it's back to the oncologist on the 20th to finalize the plan. Until then, no chemo for Byron. At least he doesn't have to go right back to the hospital.
This weekend is Second Saturday, and Byron will be playing with Victor at the Weatherstone. Victor is a great guitarist and Byron loves playing with him. I have a few pieces hanging at Vox's new West Sac location, as do Deb & Omar, who I expect will be joining us this weekend. I hear Sideshow has a great ceramics and textiles show, and lots of friends will be showing at the Body Tribe in the bird show. Maybe we'll see you out!