Amos Ross Updates

Hello Friends and Family!

We promised more details after our last post but with the travel and the jetlag and getting back on our feet just in time for the 4th of July … it’s been a busy but great few weeks. Thank you all for praying and for asking about how Amos is doing. The short answer is that he’s doing great! Praise the Lord, we see no side effects from the Gamma Knife surgery back on June 30th. The slightly longer answer is that side effects from radiation (necrosis) don’t usually show up until 4-14 months post-exposure. Weird, huh? But another opportunity to pray and trust the Lord. We are so encouraged by how well Amos has done thus far and for how much his team is surrounding him with wise and preventative care.

Amos and I (Kelli) actually just got back from a “Duke Day”. For those who aren’t local, Duke Hospital is about 2.5 hours from where we live outside of Charlotte. It’s an easy drive, most of the time. Today we had lots of rain there and back but we need it so we’ll take it! Today Amos had another avastin infusion (technically chemo). This is the same drug he had last year to help try and protect against necrosis and we’ve started it up again this time around as well. Today was his second dose and they will continue every 3 weeks (with weekly labs) for the foreseeable future. That does mean more trips to Duke than we are used to!

Additionally, Amos will start metformin tomorrow as his new regimen for treatment. As mentioned in previous posts, this is a new use for an old drug that should cause Amos very little trouble or side effects. We are so grateful for this option instead of chemo! It is a clinical trial, so please pray for it to be effective in discouraging tumor growth and for Amos to have no adverse side effects.

And now, a few FUN notes on our CA trip from two weeks ago. We didn’t really know what to expect from this trip except that we had a pre-op appointment, surgery, and a post-op. We didn’t know how Amos would do or what he’d feel up to after surgery. But we wanted to fit in some fun so we started our trip by flying into San Diego to see a Padres game and hit the San Diego Zoo. Both were so much fun and touched on some of Amos’s current and nostalgic California loves. Amos has loved baseball his whole life and he avidly follows both the Angels and the Padres. The zoo, which is truly exceptional, is special for all the times we were able to come right before Amos got sick when he was just three years old and during treatment in California. We had a perfect day at the zoo and saw so many amazing animals.

After a day or so in San Diego, we drove up to Newport Beach where Hoag Presbyterian Hospital is located. We revisited some favorite spots (Bear Flag fish tacos!!) and rested up for the surgery. The day of Gamma Knife we arrived at 6:30am and jumped right into surgery prep. Amos was in the best hands – familiar ones – since his original neurosurgeon, Dr. Loudon, was doing the honors. We truly can’t thank the Lord enough for putting Dr. Loudon and Dr. Ruth (his wife!) into our lives as part of Amos’s care. Their friendship over the last eleven years has been a meaningful gift to Amos and our family.

Surgery went more quickly than we expected (although they told us so) and Amos was released and we were on our way back to the hotel before lunch. Since Amos felt good we got permission to ride the shuttle from our hotel down to Crystal Cove State Park. I have a photo on this beach with Amos from long ago, before he was even walking, maybe twelve years ago now! It was sweet to let him chill, read his book in the sun, and rest in such a beautiful place. We did the same thing for a few hours after post-op the next day and then traveled home to a happy well-cared-for bunch at home.

In the coming weeks Amos will begin metformin, continue Avastin, and have an MRI on July 28th.

We praise the Lord for his protection over and care for Amos and our family in this unexpected and ongoing experience of cancer. Thank you for your continued prayers!

Blessings,

The Ross Family

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts and I am helped.” Psalm 28:7

Some pictures:

More taking it easy…