Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Scan Results

It's taken a few days to get Adrienne's scan results...new place, new nurses, no one wanted to give us information over the phone. After a few phone calls, I finally got a nurse to read the impressions to me and then fax the reports (one for the PET and one for the CT). It sounded worse over the phone than the actual report but it was still not what we wanted to hear. "Apparently the patient's right lung mass has increased in size and become confluent with right hilar adenopathy/disease" and "abnormal activity in the spleen is probably indicative of disease at this location" indicating "splenic involvement with metastases." (The spleen didn't show on the last PET scan.) There are some other non-specific (not large) nodes as well as something in the adrenal gland, which is presumed to be a (benign) adenoma but the radiologists weren't sure.

Adrienne is wheezing more but has no other symptoms. Even the itching is almost non-existent. She told me not to worry too much. Easier said than done. Thankfully, Adrienne starts the trial next week and we pray that her disease responds. We need some good news.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Schedule In Place

Adrienne saw the doctor today and getting into the trial turns out to be very easy. She'll have a PET scan tomorrow (Thursday) and CT the following day as the drug company wants both. Labs will be drawn tomorrow before the PET and that's it. We're going to be in the Bay Area next week so she'll start the MGCD-0103 on June 2 and the Vidaza on June 16. There will lots of clinic visits, exams, and blood draws in between but at least things are in motion. We should have scan results Friday or Tuesday but we aren't expecting significant progression based on her labs and symptoms. Keep your fingers and toes crossed please.

Friday, May 16, 2008

From Adrienne

I'm home from college and sleeping more than awake but this is a good thing because I'm catching up from the last few days of school. I'm losing weight from the cancer and you would think the process of gaining it would be fun but I feel like I'm force feeding myself. Mom is trying really hard to entice me with homecooked dinners and baked goods.

I'm seeing the doctor next Wednesday and hopefully I'll start the tests right away. I've always said that I've been really lucky in my treatment. Whenever I needed something, a new chemo, a new type of treatment, it has always been there and this trial might be another case. It's one of the few showing results in people like me and it just happens to be in Vegas where I had already decided to spend my summer.

My Grandma Joyce is in a lot of pain now and it doesn't look like there's much time left. We all hope that this won't last long and that she'll be at rest.

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Good: Labs, Bad:Symptoms

Adrienne had a quick checkup and labs today. Amazingly, her labs look better than they have in a long time with HGB=12.2 and platelets=334. On the other hand, the itching is worse and the wheezing continues, not constantly, but it's still there. I asked Adrienne if she told the doctor about her symptoms, she did, and he said "oh sh-t" under his breath. You gotta love that doc.

The plan now is for Adrienne to finish exams next Wednesday and then I'll drive her back here to Las Vegas. She sees the doctor for the clinical trial on May 21 and we hope she can start within two weeks. Of course, she has to pass all of the qualification criteria but we're feeling pretty confident with her labs being so good. Hopefully her scans won't show significant progression of her disease.

Thursday, May 01, 2008

Touch Wood

Wouldn't you know it? As soon as I write how well Adrienne is doing, some of her Hodgkin's symptoms have returned including the itching and wheezing. It isn't awful right now but definitely there. At least the cough has improved. She took the Atarax for the itching last night and slept past noon today. Usually it calms things down for a little while so we hope that's the case this time. In the meantime, she's keeping busy finishing off the semester and planning the summer.

After a few hiccups getting records to the Nevada Cancer Institute, they have almost everything they need. Luckily I had collected some recent records for MD Anderson so I was able to fax those over. They still need some information about the clinical trials Adrienne did in New York but we should be good to go for Adrienne's appointment on May 21. At a visit to NCI today with our friend Karen, I saw Dr. Dang and am really excited for him to take care of her and Karen. I was very impressed with how familiar he is with her case already and feel totally at ease with him. He has a wonderful bedside manner and is extremely knowledgeable about lymphoma. I wish I had known about him when my dad was sick as he specializes in the type of lymphoma he had (T cell lymphoma) and has saved many lives.