7-25-13

We’ll call this The Good News Post!


Yesterday we received the results of the scan taken on 7/20, and the results are “encouraging” says Dr. G. This is the first scan since prior to starting the ABT/SCH trial and we were warned not to expect much – that results can be delayed and not appear until the second comparison scan. The scan showed “no new tumor growth” and “approximately a five percent decrease in tumor mass”. For some reason (unbeknownst to me) the trial selects certain tumors to watch and measure, and not the actual total tumor mass that a person has; meaning that the 5% is relative, but in all honesty I’m happy with any amount of decrease in tumor mass! I can’t say that I didn’t wish this treatment was easier to handle, and that my bounce-back time after the IV was shorter, but as with every treatment, if it works, it’s worth it!

Other good news yesterday was that my labs still look good, other than low calcium and magnesium, which aren’t a big deal. The reason that this is such good news is that unlike most of the chemotherapies, that cause my platelets and white count to take a hit, which can only be sustained so long, the chance of me being able to remain on this treatment long-term is increased tremendously by normal blood counts.

I’ll keep the ball rolling and end with some random good news that my hair loss has slowed down – prior to it all falling out! It might be super short and thin; but it somewhat looks like a style and I don’t have to pull the wigs out of the closet, in my world this is a success!

7-19-13

Things are pretty much the same, although I can't say the 100 degree temps are helping any.

Over the past week I've had pretty bad stomach pains and reflux, causing me to throw up when I lay down.  Dr. G said to take prilosec on a daily basis for this, and to stay away from Aleve.  This might be a drug related symptom.

The fourth dose of the SCH IV dose produced the same symptoms as last time: nausea, vomiting, weakness, foggy-headedness (if that's a word), tiredness, I expect that they will last the standard five days as with the past three doses; and all is the same with the oral dose (a whole lot of nothing, which is nice). My labs came back normal except for my calcium and magnesium were a little low; but, we took care of the magnesium yesterday and I'm taking tums for the calcium.

Tomorrow will be my first ct-scan since beginning ABT and SCH, I will write again when I receive the results on Wednesday.

Stay Cool!

UPCOMING APPTS:
7/20: CT SCAN
7/24: Labs, Dr., Oral Dose, Labs

7-9-13

Short & Sweet: The third dose of the SCH IV treatment produced similar symptoms to the last dose that I was given; the only difference being that I was put on a regimented nausea treatment, which seemed to lessen the overall nausea to some extent. The new symptom of this past treatment is a congested cough that I just can’t seem to get rid of! I know that my counts drop and my glands swell from the treatment, so I must have picked up some cold somewhere while vulnerable. UPCOMING APPTS: Wed. 7/10: ABT dose, blood work & Dr. G Wed. 7/17: ABT & SCH dose, blood work, Dr. G Sat. 7/20: ct scan