Chaim's Elizabethan Collar

Chaim on a mat sporting his Elizabethan Collar

Another photo of our poor suffering pet

A close-up of Patty holding Chaim with his Elizabethan Collar on.

Our dear puppy, Chaim, is now 6 months old. It was time to get him neutered. He also had a small hernia that needed repair and we wanted to have a miro-chip inserted so that if he ever ran off, his identity would be obvious and unquestioned. Chaim had his surgery this past Thursday (July 9) and came through without problems. We brought him home yesterday, Friday, July 10th. His only problem is that he must wear this Elizabethan Collar that they make for dogs and cats to keep them from chewing on the sutures. He must wear the collar for 8-10 days making life a little more complicated for him. The good news is that he is running around like nothing has happened. It is truly amazing how quickly pets like Chaim bounce back. All he really needed was a little extra TLC. Of course Patty and I are happy to provide it for him.

Avastin working for me and others

We just returned from Chicago after our visit with my oncologist, Dr. Nicholas and getting a new MRI scan and an Avastin treatment.

Although I hate getting the MRIs (45 minutes in a small confined area with a loud pulsing noise in the background, I realize that it is necessary to see how and if my tumor is spreading. I had the MRI taken late Thursday (5/7) afternoon. This morning we met with Dr. Nicholas. First of all he pointed out to us that Avastin had just been approved by the FDA for some recurrent GBM disease. See article here after reading this email.
http://www.webmd.com/cancer/brain-cancer/news/20090506/fda-oks-avastin-for-glioblastoma
Dr. Nicholas read my MRI from yesterday and put the scan up on the computer for all of us to see. He pointed out that there was a great improvement in the scan compared to the last one I had. He said that there was a definite decrease in tumor "activity" with less swelling and spreading than had been evident before. I guess you could say that there was some shrinkage. Clearly the Avastin is working for me. Patty & I were very encouraged after today's visit.

Thanks again go to Sarah and Thomas for watching Chaim for us during our 2 day trip to Chicago. We go back for another Avastin treatment on May 22nd.

Musical Video from Sarah & Thomas' wedding

This musical slide show was created by our photographer, Darci and I put it on YouTube here:

Avastin is doing its thing

The Marders at their Passover Seder

We just returned from Chicago from my bi-weekly Avastin infusion. I also met with my oncologist, Dr. Nicholas who did a neurological evaluation of my brain function. The good news is that the Avastin has had a very positive effect for me. It appears that my brain swelling has decreased as judged by an increase in my peripheral vision and overall affect. Dr. Nicholas was extremely positive in his evaluation of how he thinks that the Avastin is helping me. Also, the infusion this week went well and was speeded up to last only 30 minutes in total. I experienced no side effects at all during or after the infusion.

To see a slide show of all of our Passover photos, click HERE

Photos from Passover 2009 at the Marders

Thomas, David, Phil, Patty, Chaim, Sarah and Nathan.
To see a slide show of all our Passover 2009 photos click HERE

A Cavapoo puppy named Chai'm

On Monday, February 16th, Patty & I drove to Martinville, Indiana to get a look at the Cavapoo puppies for sale by the breeder. We fell in love with the male puppy shown below and put a deposit down on its purchase. We will pick him up sometime in mid-march when he is old enough. These dogs are definitely hugable creatures.