A wonderfully boring day

Dear friends and family,

Today was mostly unremarkable, which is not normally newsworthy but given the last update a boring day is a very good thing. Jeff is improving and his speech is much better. We met the new principal investigator, which is the doctor who is running the trial (it has changed; the previous doctor took another job). Jeff liked both of them, but for what it is worth, I like this doctor better. Other doctors like the neurosurgeon and radiation oncologist can weigh in on recommendations, but he has ultimate say on what happens with the TIL.

Jeff received the chemotherapy much earlier in the day today than past days, so there was less waiting around. Jeff walked more than a mile in laps around the floor and ate well today, and seems to be tolerating the chemo pretty well now. He said today was a day like what he had expected.

Two other updates that are hopefully positive. 1) they reduced the steroid that Jeff is on for brain swelling because he is doing better. As long as he continues to do well, they are reducing it again tomorrow with the goal of being off it entirely by Thursday, so that when they administer the TIL infusion on Friday it is mostly out of his system and won’t reduce efficacy. 2) Jeff was tested for seizures this morning, which is another risk of this trial, and did not have any.

I hope that all of our updates from now on are as boring as laps around the floor and three full meals.

Sending love,

Arianna

PS I appreciate all the calls, texts and emails but am a bit overwhelmed and it is difficult for me to respond to everyone, and to respond thoughtfully. Your well wishes, prayers and offers of help are welcome and kind, and I am sure we will take you up on the help someday soon. For updates on Jeff I will continue to post here, even when it is a no-news-is-good-news type situation. Posting is easier than trying to repeat the same information via text many different times. If I have not responded, know that I have seen it and am grateful for your support, and will post something regularly so you can stay up to date. Thank you for your understanding.