Let The Wild Goose Chase Begin
I'm comin' for ya, dude.
Hey! How was your Thanksgiving?
Really? That sounds nice… oh, mine? It was lovely, thanks. Yeah, everyone’s still speaking to each other… yep, kids got along and no one threw mashed potatoes. We missed the traffic by coming back Saturday night. So great to see everyone, but nice to be home.
What?
Oh, the scan results, right…
Um.
Yeah, those didn’t come out like we hoped. Like, really not like we hoped. Lungs: measurably worse. Pelvic tumors: growing. Hydronephrosis (back-up in my kidneys) worse. New lesions in sacrum and pelvic bones.
You see why I’ve been avoiding you.
On the “Action Items” side of the page, however, we have now two solid Phase I trial options (thank you, cancer research funding), one of which I’ll be starting next Wednesday. Pending my visit with the PPMD (urologist) tomorrow and scheduling my stents. Yes, lucky me, I’ll be getting ureter stents again so I can pee. (Jeez, now I’m not only like an old woman but an old man, too?) The study (Option #1) is an oral drug, taken (yea!!!) with food daily, so no fasting, no infusions (looking hard for the silver lining)…
As opposed to the study drug from last summer, this one attacks signaling proteins on multiple pathways at the same time, so there’s a higher chance of success. The study worked well for an ovarian patient (she was on it for ten months) at The Cancer Factory already, although eventually she progressed and has now moved on to another study (my Option #2). So there’s a reasonable hope that this will give me some more time.
Another bonus is that Option #2 has openings forecast for a few months yet, so if Option #1 doesn’t show results, I can slip right on to Option #2 after about three months or so.
What? Well, we don’t know what else is out there yet. That’s the problem with studies. There are new ones coming down the pike all the time, but we can’t really predict what or when.
So, yeah. That’s where we are today. No, I’m handling it okay. (Just don’t talk about the kids.) I haven’t started buying plane tickets yet, but I’ve stopped shopping for high-end, life-long couture, since I’m not sure I’ll get my money’s worth out of it. And no, I will NOT bequeath it to you new-with-tags, so quit asking.
God bless black humor.
Family Friend Supports Cancer Research; Please Help!
Dorcas Ann Casey, on the right, with her mom.
Hi All:
I have a favor to ask. A good friend of mine, Dan Pike, is competing in the Ironman Lake Placid this weekend (2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike, 26.2-mile run!) in memory of his cousin Dorcas Ann Casey, who lost her battle with synovial sarcoma, a rare soft tissue cancer, in 2008. Dan is raising $25,000 to support the Dorcas Ann Casey Fund that will benefit synovial cancer research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
Dorcas was the source of much comfort to me during the early stages of my cancer fight; she sent care packages with comfy slippers and yummy candles; she sent books of inspiration and letters of support. She and I had a rollicking time the last time I saw her (with my GI-Jane-short hair) laughing at the random ridiculousness of the whole cancer trip. I was so sorry to hear she’d lost her fight.
If you’d like to join me in supporting my dear friend Dan in his heroic task this weekend, please visit the link below which whill take you to his page on Fred’s Team, Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s site for fundraising.
To donate online:
http://mskcc.convio.net/site/TR?px=1771450&fr_id=1370&pg=personal
To contribute by check, please make checks payable to MSKCC, noting “Pike Ironman/Fred’s Team” in the memo line, and mail to:
MSKCC
Attn: Elise Cook, Annual Giving Officer
633 Third Avenue, 28th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Thank you all for your help – let’s keep fighting to get to a place where cancer is just a distant memory. Please feel free to forward this to anyone you know who will help!
Photo courtesy Dan Pike.
I'm a two-and-a-half time ovarian cancer survivor who is not only determined to make it to sixty but also to look damn good while getting there. My two boys, husband, and dog are counting on me to get out of bed every day, so I might as well wear something cute and make each one COUNT. I'd love to hear from you about your odyssey - sharing makes it all easier to take. And laugh at.
The Carcinista 