Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! Ours was very nice! All our kids were at our house along with all but one of our grandchildren. Deanna had to work and we sincerely missed having her there. It is always so good to get together with family especially during the holiday season. We have so much to be thankful for and to celebrate!
We are here at CTCA on Thursday this time because we need to get our traveling home completed before the new years eve celebrating begins on the highways!! Arnie is getting a treatment -- dozing as usual because of the Benedryl they give him. We did not have to see the doctor or the physicians assistant today. We just had to have the port access and now the treatment.
In 2 weeks, we will be having scans and the complete blood tests, which will include the CEA. I am not sure about the chemo treatment next time. We are thinking that depending on scan and CEA results, we may be done with chemo after this treatment; but we may be having one more treatment next time because we need to complete all the treatments in this cycle. That information is kind of unclear to us at this point, but in any case, after next visit here, we should be done.
How good God has been to us through all this...many prayers have been answered! Please continue to remember us in your prayers and keep in touch... I love to read your comments and emails.
Have a happy and safe and wonderful New Year!!!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
More Good News!
Well, we are here again... at CTCA, Zion Illinois. It is Friday and cold outside - there is some snow on the ground and life is good!! We got news that is very close to the best news we could get!! The CEA is down again. This time it is 3.2 -- remember that 3 is normal. Four weeks ago that reading was 3.9 so we are approaching normal!!
We saw Dr. Neelam today and she was encouraging to us as we talked about how things are and what the future looks like. If everything continues to progress as it has, we are looking at a normal CEA in 4 weeks, which is when we see her again. Future chemo treatments are based on what we see on the scans which will be done in 4 weeks. We have chemo today and again in 2 weeks. Then 2 weeks later, we have the scans; and chemo - depending on those scan results.
We had been under the impression that there would be a "maintenance program" that would include a reduced amount of chemo therapy for a certain period of time after it was determined that the cancer was gone or at least totally controlled. Well that would have been true if we were still using Avastin, which is what was prescribed when treatment began back in April, but since we changed to Erbitux, the protocol is that we would go completely off any chemo treatments and come back here for scans and blood work every 3 months. The reasoning is that going off the drug completely allows the body to recover from having received chemo treatments. Receiving a reduced amount of Erbitux over a period of time allows the body to build up an immunity to the drug and therefore in the event the cancer were to return, Erbitux would not be as effective against the disease. Going off it completely allows the body to recover and if needed again, it would attack the cancer cells as it did originally.
We are very encouraged by the progress we are seeing - but there is a part of me that fears that we may never get to the point of going off chemo and enjoying a cancer - free life again. I know that is Satan trying to get those doubts to infiltrate my thought process and nothing makes Satan happier than for us to doubt God's promises and the good things He has for us.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers and pray that God will be glorified and that healing will continue to take place. We are always so aware of the presence of God in our lives and answers to the prayers of God's people. Thank you for being there for us.
We saw Dr. Neelam today and she was encouraging to us as we talked about how things are and what the future looks like. If everything continues to progress as it has, we are looking at a normal CEA in 4 weeks, which is when we see her again. Future chemo treatments are based on what we see on the scans which will be done in 4 weeks. We have chemo today and again in 2 weeks. Then 2 weeks later, we have the scans; and chemo - depending on those scan results.
We had been under the impression that there would be a "maintenance program" that would include a reduced amount of chemo therapy for a certain period of time after it was determined that the cancer was gone or at least totally controlled. Well that would have been true if we were still using Avastin, which is what was prescribed when treatment began back in April, but since we changed to Erbitux, the protocol is that we would go completely off any chemo treatments and come back here for scans and blood work every 3 months. The reasoning is that going off the drug completely allows the body to recover from having received chemo treatments. Receiving a reduced amount of Erbitux over a period of time allows the body to build up an immunity to the drug and therefore in the event the cancer were to return, Erbitux would not be as effective against the disease. Going off it completely allows the body to recover and if needed again, it would attack the cancer cells as it did originally.
We are very encouraged by the progress we are seeing - but there is a part of me that fears that we may never get to the point of going off chemo and enjoying a cancer - free life again. I know that is Satan trying to get those doubts to infiltrate my thought process and nothing makes Satan happier than for us to doubt God's promises and the good things He has for us.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers and pray that God will be glorified and that healing will continue to take place. We are always so aware of the presence of God in our lives and answers to the prayers of God's people. Thank you for being there for us.
Friday, December 3, 2010
Progress Report...
We are where we usually are every 2 weeks... at CTCA getting an infusion! This trip is going to be quick...traveled yesterday, got port access this morning with this treatment scheduled to begin about an hour later. We are not seeing the Oncologist or the Physicians Assistant this time. Since we are doing so well, they have determined that it is not necessary to see the PA every time we are here.
Everything continues to progress very well. The blood work done at home was again, normal.
Probably the most significant thing this time is the weather... cold with snow forecast for later this afternoon and tonight here in Chicago. It was 17 degrees this morning when we left the hotel to come here.... BURRRRR! - I am a big baby when it comes to cold weather! I HATE it!! We may leave to go home after this treatment, depending on how Arnie is feeling. I would be doing the driving... look out!! LOL
I can't express enough how we appreciate your thoughts and prayers for us! God is definitely hearing and answering prayer and we feel his presence with us as we continue through this journey. Please keep in touch with us and keep us in your prayers.
Everything continues to progress very well. The blood work done at home was again, normal.
Probably the most significant thing this time is the weather... cold with snow forecast for later this afternoon and tonight here in Chicago. It was 17 degrees this morning when we left the hotel to come here.... BURRRRR! - I am a big baby when it comes to cold weather! I HATE it!! We may leave to go home after this treatment, depending on how Arnie is feeling. I would be doing the driving... look out!! LOL
I can't express enough how we appreciate your thoughts and prayers for us! God is definitely hearing and answering prayer and we feel his presence with us as we continue through this journey. Please keep in touch with us and keep us in your prayers.
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