Past, Present, Future--A trio of updates.

Round 6 in progress

Mid-March Update

March 11th Jack checked into the Sonic Hedgehog Room for an overnight chemo. Jack’s counts were AMAZING. The nurses and doctors gave him beaucoups of gold stars. Must be the 22 oz steak he ate for lunch last week (Thank you, Al Biernat’s and Deedie!). For real. High protein diet really does work wonders for his recovery in between treatments.

Questions about Jack’s lung nodule bubbled up as we were huddled with Dallas and Houston oncologists to finalize a surgical location. While it would be preferable to biopsy the nodule in question—all 3 mm of it (imagine the width of a nickel), it’s simply too small to guarantee with certainty a surgeon could resect it via a minimally invasive procedure. Plus, coordinating lung biopsy/resection in the midst of chemo regimen is more complicated than we imagined. ie, chemo needs to happen every two weeks, surgery needs to happen when counts are good and allow him enough time to recover before last chemo and in time for surgery. Lung nodule removal could be minor or a big deal. Just don’t know yet and prob won’t know until they get in there.

We met with an incredible thoracic specialist at UTSW who gave us peace of mind that the best course of action is to wait and monitor via scans. The analogy he shared: imagine shooting an arrow from your bedroom, through your entire house, into your kitchen and hitting a specific egg yolk in your fridge. In other words, you try picking up a 3mm squishy bit and lmk how that goes. So we watch and wait. The end hope is that it’s nothing and no lung radiation needed.

Some moments of levity in between treatments: Mavericks Game with friends (Thank you FIJI pals for making the drive and Urschels for the INCREDIBLE seats), A little birthday celebration, Dune 2 in a movie theater. Jack continues to feel good in between treatments. A couple of visits to Rey Rosa, dinners out with friends, lots of golf. Lots of steak. Probably too much time with his parents. Walking and sunshine seem to help a lot.

Mavericks beat the Miami Heat. No doubt thanks to TeamJack on the sidelines.

More steak for you-know-who

Dune 2—for 2—we were the only ones in the theater :) totally worth the hangover from the milk duds and popcorn

TODAY—March 25

Jack checked in early this morning for Round 6 in hopes of the earliest possible release on Good Friday. No, I haven’t been shopping for ultra minimalist conceptual photography at the Dallas Art Fair (above photo). Thinking the window painters at Children’s must be on spring break? Or maybe they couldn’t decide between Easter and Passover? 🤷🏼‍♀️

His counts were really good (yay!) so he’s here for the week—aka last round before the surgery, aka 1/3 thru Chemo, aka it’s still a crummy 5 days in the hospital. Jack and I can agree to disagree, but I’m choosing the glass half full view-last round before he gets a little mid-treatment break of 3-4 weeks while he preps and recovers from surgery.

We head to Houston next Tuesday 4/2 for a few days of pre-op appointments and tests. Surgery scheduled for 4/8. Unclear how long we’ll be in Houston. It’s sounding like minimum 2 week stay after 4/8.

This weekend we’re looking forward to Charlie joining us for a few days. Time at Rey Rosa in the bluebonnets; enjoying some fishing and hunting; family brunch on Easter Sunday with a little golf. In other words, filling his cup with outdoor activities before he’s benched for a while.

SURGERY UPDATE

Jack’s surgery is scheduled for Monday, April 8 at MD Anderson in Houston. Yes, Jack will miss the eclipse. We were fortunate to be in the path of totality back in 2017, but this year, his path to totality will be focused on the total removal of diseased bone and tissue. Full stop.

Flashback to totality in 2017

I’ll update next week when we have more information about surgery and his recovery. He has the most amazing team of doctors and nurses here in Dallas and in Houston. We couldn’t be more grateful for the care and attention he is receiving.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for YOUR continued notes and positive messages, prayers, meditations, dances, etc. Jack is focused on the finish line and so are we—and you are all an invaluable part of getting him and us there. Big Love!