Shana Bearden

We have had some disappointments this week. Shana’s blood counts remain too low for her to receive additional chemotherapy and she broke down crying at the doctor’s office when they told her. She sees this as a very worrisome thing because if she doesn’t get chemo then her time is lessened dramatically. She is scheduled for a CT scan on July 9 but we won’t get the results until her doctor gets back from his vacation which will be another week or so later. Some good news, it turns out that a friend of mine sits on the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation board and she is offering to help us with research and support. I am looking for a new combination of chemotherapy that will not knock down Shana’s blood counts so low. We also need to have a good gameplan when she runs out of tolerance for her current regime. Shana has been suffering from a series of infections and other problems that have made her skin extremely thin and she has to be very careful about what she touches or that touches her. She has been feeling pretty good overall but she is getting depressed because of the troubles with the chemotherapy and the obvious growth in her waist line due to the tumor growing (we suppose). She told me yesterday that she did not think she would live another year and that is the first time she has ever said that to me. I hope she is wrong. It won’t be for lack of trying. She is now well past the standard expectancy for peritoneal mesothelioma so maybe we can shoot to create some new records. Please pray ever more seriously for my lady. She doesn’t deserve this.
I went to see Jeff McKim on Sunday. He is able to walk with help and speaks often very clearly and sometimes he gets his words jumbled up. He is moving this next week to another rehab facility in Irving and then possibly home. He told me that he would be back at work soon and his memory and conceptual skills seem intact. His legs are wobbly and his speach a bit hard to understand sometime but otherwise he seems to be in fair shape. He is lucky and dodged a big bullet.
Pray for the sick please.
Jim Bearden