Dr. Robert Berryman

Can you say "loooong day"?

I'm thinking I'm too tired to go into very many details tonight but I guess we'll see how this goes...

We arrived at the Sammons Cancer Center at Baylor in Dallas at 2:30 today and finally arrived back home about 7:30 tonight.  Another tiring day...

But... Tanner and I both really liked Dr. Berryman.  He apologized profusely for our having to wait so long (over 2 hours) and Tanner and I both told him that was ok; we have learned the art of patience the last couple of years.

We talked at length about the treatment Tanner had received in Arkansas and about the maintenance chemo he's still undergoing.  He said that he wouldn't change anything about the program Tanner's on at this point and said that he would be glad to take the case - and work with Little Rock...  I told him we would have to see how Dr. Barlogie feels about that since he told us he expects us to live in Arkansas by the time the next re-staging tests are scheduled in August (so that all the testing can be done at UAMS from now on).

Come to find out Dr. Berryman has met Dr. B - and has actually "followed" him in clinic at MIRT (so he knows how "passionate" Dr. Barlogie is).

He also went on and explained to us that his mother had died of Multiple Myeloma - which inspired his passion to fight this disease - and that he took her to Arkansas for an evaluation many years ago.

Tanner explained to him about the pain he's feeling in his right hip and Dr. Berryman said he has a couple of Orthopedic Oncologist Surgeons that he will call tonight and explain about Tanner's case and would like for us to come back next week to consult with them and get some of their ideas and possible recommendations.

He said that Tanner is a young man with "a lot of living in front of him" and he shouldn't have to be worried about having his hip break if there is something that can be done to prevent it from happening.



He also want's us to bring Trevor, my other son, with us to the appointment next week so that they can run a blood test and see if he would be a stem cell donor candidate.

 He explained to Tanner and I that he's already had the best, most aggressive treatment that a person could have.  He needs to be prepared for what to do if, in the future, he should relapse - and that that might be the option of a donor stem cell transplant instead of an autologous transplant...  He explained that it's his job to always be looking to the future and planning for the "what if's". Tanner told him he's trying to do the same thing himself.

Suffice it to say, Tanner and I both were impressed with this doctor and look forward to hearing what the Orthopedic Oncologists might have to say next week.

I'll give more details soon, but right now I think I've had all I can stand for one day...  Good night all...