Cycle 6 results

We met with the doctor today and wish we could have gotten better news. The growth this cycle was 8% which brings the total to 16% since she started the trial. We were told the trial has only slowed the growth but that it is not stopping it. He suggested that we do one more cycle (4 weeks) and then we will do another scan and if nothing changes this will be the end of this trial. There is a possibility that there might be another trial opening up in a couple of months that Carrie might could get into but not to get our hopes up as it is a brand new trial. After this next cycle Carrie will be back in Auburn for at least 28 days and then we will decide whether or not to continue with the next trial (if it available).

Results Coming Soon

Well, we are nearing the end of this cycle. We took a week off from treatment this past wednesday and instead spent the week in the Smokey Mountains with Carrie's parents and brother. And it was such a great break from the usual routine of traveling back and forth to Texas. It was a much needed break and hopefully will rejuvenate us for a while.

Now it's back to the grind... Carrie will fly back to Texas this Tuesday and have her last treatment of this cycle on Wednesday, March 9. She will then have her CT scan done Thursday morning, March 10. I will then be flying out to Houston the following week on Tuesday, March 15. We will meet with Carrie's doctor for the results of the scan on Wednesday, March 16, and pending a good report, she will start the next cycle of 8 rounds that afternoon.

We have been doing this trial for 6 months now and it's really starting to take it's toll on us. We've been very fortunate that Carrie has been able to travel back and forth as much as she has. The only side effects she's had have been decreasing white blood counts. Thank you all for your continuous thoughts and prayers. Unless something happens, we will let everyone know the results next Wednesday, March 16.

"Counts" Roller Coaster

Well, once again, my counts are down. My white and red blood counts are low, but they've been steady over the past several weeks. My platelets have dropped significantly to 87 (they had been in the 120s up until now) and my neutrophiles are once again below 1. Last week they were at 1.07, which was barely safe, but they did the full chemo treatment and apparently knocked my neutrophiles down even further. As a result, they (once again) held part of my treatment wednesday, making this the 3rd time in the past 2 months. I received the investigational drug, but they did not give me the Temsirolimus. Next week, I will meet with the doctor before I receive treatment to make sure my counts are safe. If they are, they will once again lower the dosage of the Temsirolimus before they give it to me. In the meantime, I am once again receiving the 3 day shot of Neupogen to increase my neutrophiles. Hopefully my doctor can figure out a dose he can safely give me without causing my counts to drop and cancel treatments!! I will keep everyone posted when I see the doctor next wednesday.

Counts are back up!!

I met with my doctor today before chemotherapy and my neutrophile counts have bounced back to a healthy level. They have decided, however, to lower the amount of drug I receive in hopes that my neutrophiles won't drop again. They will of course monitor my counts every week and if they drop again, they'll have to consider lowering the dosage again. Until then, treatment will continue as scheduled for the next 5 weeks, then I'll get scanned again around the beginning of March. We will keep everyone updated on anything that happens between now and then. Otherwise, we'll let you know what March brings!!

Low Blood Counts... Again...

After a good report last week and increased blood counts, they once again have fallen into the low range. My neutrophile absolute count (aka white blood cells that fight infections) was even lower than it was 2 weeks ago when they had to alter my chemotherapy treatment. It was 0.66 and the normal level is at least 1.7. The nurse talked to my doctor, who initially said to cancel the entire treatment on Wednesday, but then decided to just give me the investigational drug and skip the other one. And, once again, I was told I would have to receive a shot over the next 3 days to increase my neutrophiles. Luckily, I was able to get in touch with an oncologist in Auburn to receive the last 2 shots so I could still come home to Auburn for the weekend. As a result of low blood counts twice in the last couple of weeks, I am now scheduled to meet with my doctor this wednesday to see what he plans to do. More than likely, they will have to adjust the dosage on the FDA regulated chemo drug, since that's what appears to be causing the problem. Until then, I've been told to stay away from large crowds and especially anyone coughing or appearing to be sick... not the easiest thing in the world to do, especially since I'm flying so much. But hopefully wednesday will give us some answers and the doctor can fix the problem!

Live from MD Anderson....it's Wednesday's Results

Just met with the doctor and the scans show that Carrie's tumor has another 4% growth for a total of 8% since she started the trial in September. 8% is still lower than 20% so we are scheduled to start round 3 this afternoon. On the upper side of things we were told that Carrie could take a week off if she wanted to, just to get a break from having to travel and getting treatment. The doctor said that it would only push the treatment back one week but would not effect her results. So now we are looking forward to taking a vacation sometime in the near future. Carrie's cholesterol appears to have leveled out and is back to normal but will continue taking medicine for it. White blood count is back up to where it is supposed to be. Her thyroid stimulating hormone is high (aka Hypothyroidism) so they are prescribing her medicine for that.

We asked how the trial was going in general and the doctor said that he had 6 patients that were all in the stable state (less than 20%), one of which has been on the trial since March 2010. The doctor said once they have 5 more patients join this trial, then they can look towards sending the data and results from the trial to some medical board (who exactly, I don't know). Then, they can look towards possibly starting Phase II of this trial, which potentially means other hospitals may be able to start administering this treatment (and hopefully UAB would be one of them!!). The doctor did, however, say that it would probably be at least 8 to 10 months until the got those 5 additional patients and could send the data in. But we're optimistic!! :)

And finally, I would like to say WAR EAGLE to our guys for winning the national championship. I am not a huge fan of Facebook but it was nice to celebrate with friends through it since no one in Houston Texas cared who won. We cannot wait to get back to Auburn and celebrate the right way even if we are a few days behind. We will be driving back to Auburn tomorrow and Carrie will be in town through Tuesday.

Almost postponed...

I was supposed to have my 8th (and last) treatment for this cycle Wednesday Jan. 5. But when my lab work came back, they discovered that my Neutrophile Absolute Count (aka ANC and has to do with my white blood count which helps fight infection) was below 1 and it has to be at least 1 in order to receive chemo. The nurse paged my doctor so see if I could receive chemo and they finally decided they would go ahead and give me the investigational drug, but would skip the other chemo since my counts were so low. In addition, they decided to give me a 3 day dose of an injection called Neupogen, which will hopefully increase my white blood count. I received the first shot Wednesday, the second one yesterday (Thursday), and the 3rd one will be given today. I'm feeling fine for the most part - just really tired and worn down, but that's probably because my counts are down. I just need to be careful not to be around anyone that's sick because I am much more susceptible to getting sick with my counts so low. I will still meet with my doctor next Wednesday Jan. 12 for the results, as well as see how my counts are. Thank you all for the prayers and we will let you know Wednesday what we find out!!