Today we traveled to St. Joseph Mercy, Ann Arbor Michigan to get results of the scans done last week and also to see Dr. Reynolds. The scans showed a little more activity from the cancer in the ribs and the lungs - no cancer anywhere else.
Because of an increase in side effects and the fact that the cancer has changed, Dr. Reynolds has decided to change treatment. The new treatment will consist of Regorafenib, which is the drug that was in clinical trials when we started going to Ann Arbor, but was quickly approved by the FDA because of the positive results during phase 3 of the trials. This drug is in pill form and will be taken for 3 weeks, then off for 7 days before repeating the regime.
Arnie will also be taking an injection of Xgeva on a monthly basis to treat the cancer in the bones. He had taken Zometa before, but Dr. Reynolds says Xgeva is a better treatment at this time for bone health.
There are some details to be worked out with the Insurance company, but we should be able to begin this treatment within the next couple of weeks. They gave him an infusion of Avastin today and he is completely off Xeloda because of some really nasty side effects.
Please keep us in your prayers as we venture ahead in this journey. God has been so good to us! He has provided for us in every way.
In a devotional for today, this verse appeared again, as it has before... "For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." ....Jeremiah 29:11
