We just got back from St. Joseph Mercy in Ann Arbor Michigan after receiving a treatment which is completely different from anything we have had before. For the foreseeable future, we are done with the typical chemo treatments that are administered via infusion.
Instead Arnie will be taking a chemo drug via pills and receiving on a monthly basis, an injection called Xgeva, which is for bone health. This drug has been specifically designed for cancer patients and has shown good success during clinical trials.
Arnie began taking the oral drug, Stivarga, 2 weeks ago. Dr. Reynolds prescribed the full dose, which is 4 pills, once daily for 3 weeks, then one week off. After one week on the medication, Arnie began suffering from foot pain, which is a side effect. This pain became so severe that it became very difficult to walk around. After one week on the medication, Dr. Reynolds took him off completely for the purpose of determining how quickly he would recover from this foot problem. It took several days for the effects to clear up. The other significant problem was an elevated blood pressure, which needed to be addressed by our family doctor. He increased one of the blood pressure meds that Arnie was already taking and that seemed to keep the blood pressure readings within reason.
Dr. Reynolds wanted to hear from us after being off the medication for about a week. We started the medication 2 days ago - 3 pills - instead of 4 - a day for the remainder of this cycle and then will be off for one week. So far, the side effects seem to be well controlled.
We are thinking that perhaps the severity of these effects may have been contributed to by the Avastin and the Xeloda, which is still in Arnie's system.
So we have turned another corner in our cancer journey. With God's guidance we will continue with faith that all will turn out well.
Thanks to each of you for your prayers and support. The journey would be much more difficult without your love and concern.
Please keep us in your prayers and feel free to contact us - love to hear from you!
