I have been a bit negligent or maybe lazy about doing this blog entry... sorry! Several of you have asked specifically about the information I am going to be telling you about.
We have always felt that God led us to CTCA for cancer treatment, and we still do feel that way. We have had very good treatment there - both medically and emotionally. They have been there for us and have provided what we feel is very good care. Arnie has done very well and at this point, Dr. Neelam has suggested the possibility of investigating clinical trials. There are new drugs always coming out and there is a lot of research going on. Because Arnie is doing so well at this point (cancer is stable) it may be a good time to get involved in a clinical trial, but it has to be the RIGHT one. If we can take advantage of a treatment that knocks the cancer completely out during a clinical trial, we are ahead because it takes the FDA a significant period of time to approve drugs and to have them available.
Arnie has been looking into what is available in our area, since we are not going to travel outside the country or any further than we have been traveling for treatment. We found that IHA Hematology Oncology, Cancer Care Center-St. Joseph's at Ann Arbor, Michigan does clinical trials and they treat patients there. We have visited them and established ourselves as a patient. Their patients are given preferred consideration when it comes to consideration for clinical trials. We met with Dr. Chris Reynolds, who had all the records that CTCA had forwarded to them along with the copy of the latest PET scan which we had for him. He reviewed Arnie's case with us and looked at the scan. He seemed encouraging because he commented that the cancer was small and localized.
We talked about the trial that they are recruiting for right now and after gathering all the information and talking at great length about it, decided not to go with it, mainly because only 2/3 of the participants will be receiving the drug, while the other 1/3 will not and no one will know for at least 2 months, when scans are run, who is getting the drug and who is not. We checked with Dr. Neelam who said she did not like that idea at this time. She felt that waiting all that time without a treatment was not an acceptable chance to take.
Dr. Reynolds commented that he saw no reason to change treatments at this time, since the present one seems to have stabilized the cancer. He told us that they could proceed with our present treatment of Xeloda and Avistan, which we have been receiving at CTCA.
We will be taking at least the next 2 Avistan treatments in Ann Arbor, MI instead of traveling to Zion.
All of our team at CTCA have been agreeable to what we are doing and they want us to be sure to keep them in the loop. The idea of traveling one hour as opposed to a 5 hour drive and a night's stay, is very appealing to us!
Arnie is doing well on this "mini break". We have gotten some things done around the house that have been put off.
We feel that this is where we need to be right now. Our prayers have been for God's leading and that we would know for sure where He want us to be. We feel that taking the treatments right now in Ann Arbor is where we are to be. Please keep us in your prayers for healing and also for us to be sensitive to His leading.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Choices
It is Thursday morning... we are home from CTCA and again, the trip out there produced a completely different outcome that I had expected - it always seems to go that way. Sometimes it is not so good, and other times it is good. This time it was good.
The blood work showed the CEA has come down significantly. The reading last time - 3 weeks ago - was 90 and this time it was 60. There are a variety of reasons for that reading to go up and down but when you are a cancer patient, it always appears to indicate the activity of the cancer. It has gone up and down before because of other inflammations that were present, like the colitis or any irritation that affects the mucous membranes of the body. Dr. Neelam was very pleased that the reading had dropped so much.
Also the PET scan showed no spread of the cancer and basically it is still considered as "stable". Cancer still there, but not really doing anything.
We have been looking into the possibility of getting involved in a clinical trial and have investigated their availability. There are a couple either being conducted now or are scheduled to begin within a month or so at IHA Hematology Oncology Cancer Care Center, St. Joseph Mercy, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Arnie has been in touch with them and has learned that when it comes to the clinical trials, their patients are chosen first, then it is open to the public. So, we have decided to go there - seeking a second opinion and becoming involved with one of their doctors as a patient. We have an appointment tomorrow. They have already taken care of getting records from CTCA for us.
Dr. Neelam and her team, which includes the Naturapath, Dietician, Mind/body person, Care Manager, have requested that we keep them in the loop and let them know what is going on with us. They are still very interested and desirous of being involved in Arnie's cancer treatments.
Dr. Neelam told us of a brand new drug, Zaltrap, which has just been approved by the FDA about a week or so ago, that they have and it would be the next treatment she would use for Arnie. She said that if the possibility of a clinical trial does not happen within the next month that we should come back there and she would start him on that treatment regime.
So we have choices - which is a good thing. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, that God will lead us where He wants us to be and that He will be pleased with our decisions. This journey has been, for the lack of a better word, INTERESTING! Again, we seem to always meet new people and have the opportunity to share with them where we are, or to just listen. God always seems to put people in our paths just at the right time and in the right place! That has happened to us so very often!
I will try to keep you all posted as to our progress. Would love to hear from any of you who would want to comment or send emails or call. It always helps me to get those encouraging words!
The blood work showed the CEA has come down significantly. The reading last time - 3 weeks ago - was 90 and this time it was 60. There are a variety of reasons for that reading to go up and down but when you are a cancer patient, it always appears to indicate the activity of the cancer. It has gone up and down before because of other inflammations that were present, like the colitis or any irritation that affects the mucous membranes of the body. Dr. Neelam was very pleased that the reading had dropped so much.
Also the PET scan showed no spread of the cancer and basically it is still considered as "stable". Cancer still there, but not really doing anything.
We have been looking into the possibility of getting involved in a clinical trial and have investigated their availability. There are a couple either being conducted now or are scheduled to begin within a month or so at IHA Hematology Oncology Cancer Care Center, St. Joseph Mercy, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Arnie has been in touch with them and has learned that when it comes to the clinical trials, their patients are chosen first, then it is open to the public. So, we have decided to go there - seeking a second opinion and becoming involved with one of their doctors as a patient. We have an appointment tomorrow. They have already taken care of getting records from CTCA for us.
Dr. Neelam and her team, which includes the Naturapath, Dietician, Mind/body person, Care Manager, have requested that we keep them in the loop and let them know what is going on with us. They are still very interested and desirous of being involved in Arnie's cancer treatments.
Dr. Neelam told us of a brand new drug, Zaltrap, which has just been approved by the FDA about a week or so ago, that they have and it would be the next treatment she would use for Arnie. She said that if the possibility of a clinical trial does not happen within the next month that we should come back there and she would start him on that treatment regime.
So we have choices - which is a good thing. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, that God will lead us where He wants us to be and that He will be pleased with our decisions. This journey has been, for the lack of a better word, INTERESTING! Again, we seem to always meet new people and have the opportunity to share with them where we are, or to just listen. God always seems to put people in our paths just at the right time and in the right place! That has happened to us so very often!
I will try to keep you all posted as to our progress. Would love to hear from any of you who would want to comment or send emails or call. It always helps me to get those encouraging words!
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