Treatment #4 OVER

Carrie is home in Auburn now and doing really well. She was really tired last night after she got in, but she's had a busy week. Still never had any nausea and her appetite has been pretty good. Now we just wait to have blood work done next week and wait for the CT scan on the 11th! Please keep the prayers coming for an EXCELLENT scan in two weeks!

The Latest

Carrie is doing just fine. She is so well in fact that she is fussing at me about not updating the blog. Having said that here is the latest as of 9pm tonight. Treatment is still going well. She has not had any ill side effects this week. She sounded pretty strong on the phone when I talked to her. The doctor wants her to get some blood work here in Auburn next Wednesday to keep an eye on her levels. We have also scheduled her next CT Scan for the June 11th, which is the Friday after she and I return from our Vegas trip. Please continue to pray for us as the next couple of weeks will be pretty busy. (Carrie is in BHam now, I will be in Atlanta next week and we both will be in Las Vegas the week after that)

Treatment has Begun

Carrie started her 4th round of treatment this Monday (it's her second round on the streptosocin) and so far so good. My mom came down to Auburn Sunday night and took her up to Birmingham Monday morning. She had to have blood work drawn before they could proceed with treatment so Monday was a llloonnnnggg day - she had to wait over 2 hours just to get started. But her blood work came back fine. Her platelets were slightly low at 117 (they have to be above 100 to receive treatment) and her Red and white blood cell counts were ok. But she did treatment monday and yesterday without any problems. And so far, no ill side effects. Carrie is wearing the nausea patch all week to help ward off any nausea and so far so good! She's a little tired, but nothing more than usual. Her doctor stopped by briefly yesterday and told Carrie she would talk to her today (Wednesday) since she would actually be in the office for clinics and they would possibly discuss when her next CT scan will be. Other than that, so far so good!! Carrie's spirits are high and she is making the most out of her "vacation" in Birmingham! She's resting up and preparing for the REAL vacation to Las Vegas in a few week :) We'll keep you updated.

Next Treatment Scheduled

Not much to report this time. Carrie had blood work done in UAB this past Wednesday, May 12. Her doctor called her thursday to tell her that her counts looked good, but not good enough to start the next round this Monday. So they have scheduled that round to start Monday, May 24. It will be the exact same regimen as last time so we know what to expect. It will go 5 days, monday through friday. After that round is complete, they will schedule another CT scan to see if this new chemo medicine is working. We will keep everyone updated and as always, thank you for your unending prayers.

Doctor Checkup

Carrie went back to UAB today to have blood work done and meet with her doctor. And all of her counts were great! Praise the Lord!! Her red and white blood cells were "wonderful" according to the doctor and her platelets were at 149 (normal level is 150 so she was only 1 point below normal which is GREAT for anyone undergoing chemotherapy!). Her doctor told her to get blood work done here in Auburn next wednesday or thursday and depending on how they look, they will then determine when the next round of treatment will start. As of right now, they are thinking about starting on May 17 or 24, but we will know for sure after next weeks blood work.

As far as everything else goes, Carrie is doing really well. She's still at home from work on disability, which her doctor said was probably the best thing for her because it decreases the possibilities of getting sick or catching infections from everyone else. She's enjoying spending time at home and taking the opportunity to spend time with family. She just started her second cycle of the new chemo tablet, Xeloda, which she takes for a week on, then a week off. It doesnt really affect her too much, but it does tend to make her a little queasy after she takes the medicine. But other than that, she's doing great! We'll keep everyone posted after she gets the results of her blood work next week. And as always, thanks for all the prayers. God is good and He is definitely answering them!!

Treatment Starts

Carrie heard from her oncologist 3 times this past friday and after much discussion, Carrie starts her next round of treatment THIS monday (tomorrow) April 19. She will be in Birmingham monday-friday, receiving this new chemotherapy drug everyday. They are worried about this medication making her more nauseous and sick than the previous ones so they will be prescribing her Sancuso, which is a patch she'll wear for nausea for the 5 days of treatment, and she'll also be taking another oral chemo drug called Xeloda. Her doctor will not be in the office Monday or Tuesday, but Carrie hopes to see her Wednesday when she will be seeing other patients and ask her any remaining questions. Her oncologist said this regiment is typically given every 42 days, but they'll monitor her counts and go from there as to how often she'll actually do treatment. They are still looking into the possibility of clinical trials so they are still working on that. We will let you know first part of the week how she is doing and any other information we find out.

New Treatment

Carrie heard from her oncologist today and she finally got in touch with the doctor at MD Anderson. After they discussed Carrie's situation, it was concluded that the tumor is indeed growing. They didn't specify whether the necrotic centers were good or bad, but regardless, the tumor is getting larger. They both agreed to try a different chemotherapy regiment called Streptozocin (sp?). Carrie's oncologist at UAB is fighting with our insurance to get this medicine approved - they tried last week and was denied approval, but she's still fighting it. This new treatment is usually given as a 5 days schedule so she'll have it monday-friday on the weeks she has it. We don't know yet how often treatments will be or for how long. We hope to know after it gets approved through our insurance. Carrie's doctor thinks it will start the week of April 26 because she doesnt know if she'll be able to get it approved and scheduled in time for next week. Until then, Carrie has decided to go ahead and take out her disability leave through work. She's put in the request for the disability claim to be started so she will not return to work for the time being. This will give her time to focus on herself and start treatment whenever her doctor has a plan set in stone. We will of course update everyone as soon as we find anything more out.