Here are a couple pictues of the Chicago trip we took with Kevin's work. The boat ride was pretty cool.
Some of our friends on the boat.
Well I’ve held off long enough. I need to give you all a health update.
I got results from my PETscan and they show some progression. Basically the tumors are active again. The tumors on my liver which were inactive all through treatment are now showing activity. (they are pulling extra glucose (sugar)). Interesting to tell you this after my sugar entry. Recap on how the PET scan works. I get injected with radioactive glucose (sugar) into my blood. Then I wait an hour and they scan me. Since cancer cells pull sugar at a higher rate than regular cells you can see if there are live cancer cells in your body doing their thing (because the sugar is radioactive and shows up on the scan) Where there is spots of sugar, there is cancer. It's not completely that simple, but you get the idea.
So, what does this mean? It means I do not like telling people bad news since I have known this for two weeks and kept it to myself and immediate family. Means I need to kick the diet into the next gear, keep my spirits up and start looking into more treatment options. I guess this means some more chemotherapy or something. I freaking hope I can find something that doesn’t cause my hair to fall out because frankly I am sick of not having hair. I mean come one already. I’m a girl and I really want to have hair. No skin issues would be a nice plus too. I never get nauseous on any chemos yet, so I don't worry about that.
I am collecting opinions from all of the oncologists I have gone to. There is Dr Nadeau (Beaumont Royal Oak, MI) that thinks I should do some form of chemotherapy like a Taxol, Abraxane, or Taxatere with the Neupogen shot (to shut down the ovaries) and continue with the Avastin (to stop tumors fro being able to make their own blood supply) and Zomeda (to stop tumor growth in bones and help them grow back) She is also interested in a possible clinical trial out of MD Anderson. There is Dr. Hellerstedt (Texas Oncology in Austin) who discussed a clinical trial (at MD Anderson) for a new drug called a Parp inhibitor which targets cancer cells with the genetic mutation, or also likes the idea of other chemotherapies like Carboplatin or Gemzar. I haven’t talked to Dr. Nagourney (Rational Therapeudics, Long Beach, CA) who is very fond of the chemo cocktail of about three different drugs but at a low dose that I have been tested to show a good responsiveness to. I talked to Dr. Arun (MD Anderson, Houston) about the clinical trial she is running with the Parp inhibitor. I qualify for this Phase II clinical trial, but the travel is my main problem. This would involve a lot of (expensive) flights back and forth to Texas, but this new drug is looking like the latest and greatest. They are hoping for a home run with this one. If I go on the trial they actually want me to stay there for 1 month. I might stay for two long weeks (one week at a time) with appointments on each end of the week. (I would have weekly appointments for the first month) It has a lot of hype about being very successful in the future and also has very minimal side effects compared to other chemotherapies. I saw Dr Hayes (University of Michigan) this past Wednesday. He is always my conservative opinion. He thinks I should only do hormone therapy and try to see if that does anything for me. This would be the least toxic approach, but I get scared that it won’t be enough. He also has a clinical trial with Notch inhibitors (that attack the stem cells of your cancer) that he wants me to consider, but I’m a little scared to do a phase I trial. Even with all these opinions, I know the choice is mine. I have the final say. We’ll see what I decide. Obviously I am looking for maximum results with minimal side effects (and of course get to keep my hair). Once again, here I am stuck and I don’t know what to do. People tell me to go with my gut, but all my gut says is “gee I hope you make the right decision.” It sucks because a wrong decision could mean bad news. I will continue the diet all through therapy as it will only improve my response rate.
Anyway, don’t worry about me. I cried my eyes out for a day and I gave myself a really bad headache. After that, I was in the right state of mind and Kevin and I were focusing on what we could do to improve the situation. Did I slip on my diet? Many times. The Hippocrates diet is impossible to do by yourself at home especially if you don't like preparing food. Is my diet even better now? Of course. More to come on everything I am trying to get my body back into balance. Well, Chloe just plopped on my lap and is blocking the computer, so that is all for now. Bed time.
Goodnight
Peaceful sleeping
Shannon
I got results from my PETscan and they show some progression. Basically the tumors are active again. The tumors on my liver which were inactive all through treatment are now showing activity. (they are pulling extra glucose (sugar)). Interesting to tell you this after my sugar entry. Recap on how the PET scan works. I get injected with radioactive glucose (sugar) into my blood. Then I wait an hour and they scan me. Since cancer cells pull sugar at a higher rate than regular cells you can see if there are live cancer cells in your body doing their thing (because the sugar is radioactive and shows up on the scan) Where there is spots of sugar, there is cancer. It's not completely that simple, but you get the idea.
So, what does this mean? It means I do not like telling people bad news since I have known this for two weeks and kept it to myself and immediate family. Means I need to kick the diet into the next gear, keep my spirits up and start looking into more treatment options. I guess this means some more chemotherapy or something. I freaking hope I can find something that doesn’t cause my hair to fall out because frankly I am sick of not having hair. I mean come one already. I’m a girl and I really want to have hair. No skin issues would be a nice plus too. I never get nauseous on any chemos yet, so I don't worry about that.
I am collecting opinions from all of the oncologists I have gone to. There is Dr Nadeau (Beaumont Royal Oak, MI) that thinks I should do some form of chemotherapy like a Taxol, Abraxane, or Taxatere with the Neupogen shot (to shut down the ovaries) and continue with the Avastin (to stop tumors fro being able to make their own blood supply) and Zomeda (to stop tumor growth in bones and help them grow back) She is also interested in a possible clinical trial out of MD Anderson. There is Dr. Hellerstedt (Texas Oncology in Austin) who discussed a clinical trial (at MD Anderson) for a new drug called a Parp inhibitor which targets cancer cells with the genetic mutation, or also likes the idea of other chemotherapies like Carboplatin or Gemzar. I haven’t talked to Dr. Nagourney (Rational Therapeudics, Long Beach, CA) who is very fond of the chemo cocktail of about three different drugs but at a low dose that I have been tested to show a good responsiveness to. I talked to Dr. Arun (MD Anderson, Houston) about the clinical trial she is running with the Parp inhibitor. I qualify for this Phase II clinical trial, but the travel is my main problem. This would involve a lot of (expensive) flights back and forth to Texas, but this new drug is looking like the latest and greatest. They are hoping for a home run with this one. If I go on the trial they actually want me to stay there for 1 month. I might stay for two long weeks (one week at a time) with appointments on each end of the week. (I would have weekly appointments for the first month) It has a lot of hype about being very successful in the future and also has very minimal side effects compared to other chemotherapies. I saw Dr Hayes (University of Michigan) this past Wednesday. He is always my conservative opinion. He thinks I should only do hormone therapy and try to see if that does anything for me. This would be the least toxic approach, but I get scared that it won’t be enough. He also has a clinical trial with Notch inhibitors (that attack the stem cells of your cancer) that he wants me to consider, but I’m a little scared to do a phase I trial. Even with all these opinions, I know the choice is mine. I have the final say. We’ll see what I decide. Obviously I am looking for maximum results with minimal side effects (and of course get to keep my hair). Once again, here I am stuck and I don’t know what to do. People tell me to go with my gut, but all my gut says is “gee I hope you make the right decision.” It sucks because a wrong decision could mean bad news. I will continue the diet all through therapy as it will only improve my response rate.
Anyway, don’t worry about me. I cried my eyes out for a day and I gave myself a really bad headache. After that, I was in the right state of mind and Kevin and I were focusing on what we could do to improve the situation. Did I slip on my diet? Many times. The Hippocrates diet is impossible to do by yourself at home especially if you don't like preparing food. Is my diet even better now? Of course. More to come on everything I am trying to get my body back into balance. Well, Chloe just plopped on my lap and is blocking the computer, so that is all for now. Bed time.
Goodnight
Peaceful sleeping
Shannon
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