*** UPDATE ***

*** UPDATE: ***

Dr. House called tonight. Yee Haw!

He and Dr. Ansari finally made contact today -- sometime after Dr. Ansari's office called and scheduled our appointment for tomorrow.

They put their heads together and determined the best plan of action for Johnny. Here is what they came up with:

• We are definitely going with the Hepatic Artery Infusion (HAI) Pump (Option 1). It will be placed during the surgery when Dr. House removes the ulcer left in the colon (and the gallbladder).
• The best news of all is that the pump will be managed by Dr. Ansari, himself!!!!! He has had experience with this pump in the past and feels confident that he will be able to manage it right here in South Bend! Yea!! Although a trip to New York sounds exciting at first, I knew that it would become a chore.
• Johnny will receive chemo through the HAI pump and his existing port. This means that he will be receiving another full protocol of systemic chemotherapy as well. This isn't something we were counting on, but if it is what will take care of every little bit of the cancer in his liver, then we are more than willing to do it. I feel so bad for Johnny just knowing how difficult the last few sessions were for him. I'm already praying for this chemo protocol to go easy on him.
• At set intervals, Johnny will get re-scanned to determine the response of his liver to the chemo. We expect him to be on the HAI pump for 4-8 months; however, it could go as long as 12 months.
• We are looking for complete response by his liver, you know -- no more tumors. If tumors remain after the HAI pump has done all it can, then we will consider resection of the remaining tumors at that time. The expected response rate of the HAI pump is 60-70% on its own. Dr. House said that he is confident that we will be able to "clean up" the entire liver. I think that is his way of saying "complete remission".

We were looking for a plan and now feel like we have one again. That is a good feeling. The few questions that we have will be answered by Dr. Ansari tomorrow. Of course, I will update again once we have talked to him.