A Plan - Sort Of

Adrienne saw her doctor today. The PET scan doesn't show anything new, which is good, but the tumors are certainly bigger (2.6 x 3.7 x 3.1 cm in the lung and 2.1 x 2.8 x 3.4 cm in the spleen, no change in the epigastric node). We had been talking about a trial with a drug called PDX combined with gemcitabine but the doctor is concerned about side effects of this regimen in light of the fact that she doesn't have any B symptoms. Now we are waiting for approval for one of two other clinical trials where the drugs have little or no side effects. We should have an answer today or tomorrow. In the meantime, Adrienne will go off the valproic acid since it obviously isn't helping. If she starts itching, she's supposed to call the doctor and get something that won't make her sleepy like Benadryl does.

Otherwise, Adrienne is doing well. She recovered from her respiratory infection of last week and has some fun social activities planned for this week. She and her roommate get along great, which is wonderful after her disappointing roommate experiences at CMC. I think we were all slightly concerned that she would find New York big and impersonal but she really enjoys it. I guess she really is a city girl at heart.

A few people have asked if Adrienne is transferring to Columbia. Originally, she had hoped to go to Prague for the fall semester but, given the status of her disease, it didn't seem like a good idea. After seeing the doctor in New York and discovering that she could do a semester "abroad" at Columbia through the off campus study office, she decided to apply. Technically, she's still a CMC student and all of her Columbia credits will count toward graduation there. It'll be interesting for her to attend a big city university after being at a small liberal arts college.