The PET scan went smoothly; the test was easy enough, the staff was nice, and the drive to San Diego was beautiful.  I don't expect we'll hear any results, Dr Barone will use them to guide his surgery.  On a technical note, the PET scan uses "radioactive" sugar molecules, since tumors metabolize more quickly they pick up the isotope and show up on the scan.

No word on a surgery date, still waiting for insurance approval, hopefully tomorrow. 

Thank you all for your continued prayers!  We appreciate it so much!

We met with Dr Robert "Golden Hands" Barone, the melanoma surgeon today.  His plan is to remove the lymph nodes and tumors from the left armpit and to do a wider excision of the breast where the other tumor was.  They will call us soon to set up an appointment for next week.  Surgery will be done at Sharps Memorial, Leslie will spend the night.

In the meantime, were going BACK UP to San Diego tomorrow for a PET scan.   Dr Barone says that Dr McClay is on the forefront of melanoma research on the West Coast.  He also recommends the melanoma vaccine as a back-up.

It was a really hard day for me today to say good bye to the kids I work with.  I love them so much!  Here are a few pics that I took with them on my last day of work.  Here is a picture also of some of the loving and supportive staff that I work with.  Love you girls!

 Also.....A BIG thank  you to Mr. Cato and the whole T.L. Waggoner staff for all of their love, encouragement, generosity and support!  I love you all!!

Leslie

We have an appointment with Dr Barone for Tuesday morning, surgery appointment will probably be several days after that.

Temporary Setback.  The local surgeon who we wanted to do the lymph node removal does not feel comfortable doing the surgery and thinks we should have it done by a surgical melanoma specialist.  This is a good thing, we trusted Dr Hahm partially because we knew she look out for our best interest and she has.  Our next hope is Dr Robert Barone in San Diego.  An added benefit is that he works with medical melanoma specialists, he can give us an opinion on Dr McClay and his program.

The downside is that may delay the surgery and treatment a little.  It's OK, God is in control