SUMMER, 1977
SCOTT GOES TO NANTUCKET

In June, 1977, my brother Bill invited us to spend July 4th weekend in Nantucket with him and his family and we gleefully accepted.  Bill was always talking with us in those days about vacation plans.  He even mentioned that his son Jon's bar mitzvah was planned to take place in the summer of 1978 at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, Israel and that he wanted all of us, especially Scott, to be his guests.  Back in the spring and summer of 1977, we assumed that Bill was not really serious; that he didn't expect Scott to be alive in 1978; and that he was just mouthing words in order to keep our hopes and spirits up.  Getting back to the trip to Nantucket, Scott enjoyed the shuttle plane journey to Boston and the small commuter plane trip to Nantucket and soon we were frolicking at the beach and enjoying a barbecue at Bill's rented cottage.  

SCOTT BECOMES VERY SICK AGAIN
[HIS SECOND HOSPITAL ADMISSION]

Then it happened.  Scott had terrible headaches and the projectile vomiting started again.  Our worst fears had occurred.  We telephoned Dr. Gold, chartered a plane to rush back to NYC and Scott was immediately admitted to Babies Hospital as an emergency patient. 

Within hours, Scott had a CAT scan and this time, Dr. Sadek Hilel, the Chief of Neuroradiology at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital reviewed the films and opined that malignant tumor tissue was present throughout Scott's entire central nervous system from the top of his brain, in and about the ventricles and down to the bottom of his spine and he suggested that the primary site was probably in the brain stem area which was inoperable.  We were at a low ebb.  It was no consolation to us that Scott was only the 19th patient and the 4th child to be CAT scanned on a new model of AS&E CAT scan machine, designed by Dr. Hilel.  The prototype of the recently developed CAT scan machine had only recently been installed at Columbia Presbyterian and had not been in place during Scott's admission in April-May, 1977.  June 10, 1977 was the new CT scanner's first day of operation at Columbia Presbyterian and in the United States and in fact the world.  Dr. Hilel was later to tell me that perhaps the better resolution of the new machine made it possible to more fully observe Scott's neurological condition in July, 1977, in a manner which could not have been done on the older machine in April.  I mention this to illustrate the theme that new technology was constantly being developed, which even if it didn't ultimately save Scott's life, certainly was instrumental in prolonging it.