Friday, January 27, 2012

Three steps forward one step back. It seems like a reoccurring scenario. Wednesday didn't go as good as we wanted it. The new chemo has not been effective and the tumors have grown and spread. At least we found out only after 8 weeks of the chemo rather then going months. To be honest I anticipated this mostly due to the fact that I've been feeling like my old self since switching to it. Hands and feet back to normal. Appetite back and energy level up. The topper was that my blood work came back the best its been in well over a year. Everything to normal. The new chemo just wasn't strong enough. The only saving grace is that I needed to have this chemo in order to qualify for the trial drug study. So Wednesday afternoon I ran around the hospital having lab work and an EKG done. Thursday morning I was back bright and early for an ECHO (heart study) and CT Brain Scan. Next week I'm scheduled for a CT Scan of my pelvis (this is the 3rd CT scan in a week - you would think they would get everything done at once), bone scan and more labs. I'm tentatively set up to start the trial chemo on Feb 8. All they need to do is to re-evaluate my tumor block. They actually keep the tumors removed from you, in this case from 9 years ago, in what they call a tumor block (wax like substance). the hospital is required to keep it in storage basically forever. In this case it will be sent to Germany (drug company sponsoring the trial is Rosch which is a German Pharmaceutical company) to verify that the cancer I have is the one they are studying in the trial. I am confident that this will not be a problem since the tumor has been evaluated by both RUSH and U of C hospitals once before. Good news is that the drug company pays for a lot of the tests and drugs. Once I get more into the thick of it I will let you know what is involved. Until then I just keep on going with a positive attitude and the fight continues.

Stay tuned for more updates and don't forget to Keep on Dancin"!