December 24th Update

Merry Christmas Eve!!!!   Nancy had her review last Friday.  This was really a monitoring visit checking on how Nancy is doing with the new meds.  Overall, Nancy has been tired and had some back pain.  This is good for the first couple of weeks.  On January 3rd, Nancy will have a more complete blood work checking on her tumor markers.  She will also have Zometa.  Her first scan will be around the first of Feb...and then we should have a much better idea on what is going on with the cancer.

We are thankful for the season and the wonderful support and blessings you all have been.  Merry Christmas from the Curry's!

December 9th update

Nancy started the new medicines today.  She has one in the am, the other at dinner.  It is good to be treating the cancer again  We will keep you posted as to side effects and how she does with the new meds.  Thanks to all for wonderful support!

December 5th update

Nancy had her Dr appointment today.  She will be on AFINITOR and Aromasin which can also be called Exemestane.  She will take both daily.  This will start tomorrow or Friday depending on UPS.  The cancer was active in the bones and the liver, but nowhere else.  They also did an additional MRI of the brain and that was all good.  This combination of drugs is new and the side effects will be monitored closely.  Nancy will have full labs and Doctor appointments every two weeks.  She will also be interviewed by phone by the AFINITOR folks every 10 days.  Full head-to-toe scans will be every 2 months.  We hope the drugs will be effective and the side effects minimal. I will try to keep this updated.  Thanks to all, BC

November 28th 2nd update

Nancy met with Dr Anthony today.  There is clearly cancer in the liver.  They now need to see if there are spots in other areas, especially the lungs.  So Nancy has a full head-to-toe scan Friday, preliminary results on Monday, and will begin treatments on Wednesday afternoon.  She will either begin the AFINITOR program or may begin chemotherapy based on scan results.  Dr Anthony is also working with Matt at Evergreen in Kirkland. Nancy will mostly rest and get ready for next week.  Again, thanks to all for wonderful support! 

November 28th update

Nancy had a scan on Monday.  Results show new cancer lesions (around 10) on her liver. This is the first area where the cancer was not contained in the bones.  We are meeting today with the Doctor for the treatment plan.  Nancy will also have her Zomeda infusion.  I will be updating this again tonight with whatever we find out.  Thanks for all your support for Nancy!

November 26th update

Nancy is at the Doctor's today.  She is getting IV's and a scan on her abdomen.  She will start her new meds on Wednesday.  She will be on AFINITOR and Aromasin which can also be called Exemestane.  She will take both daily.  The review of the meds and side effects will happen Wednesday, however we know she will have Doctor appointments every two weeks for some time.  That is really all we know today.  She will rest up and get ready to start on Wednesday.  Nancy had a great Thanksgiving first in Green Bay and then with Todd, Ally, Mike and the grand-boys in Seattle. 

November 12th update

Nancy will start her new med plan on Nov 26th.  We will keep you posted as we learn more on what meds those might be.  Nancy is at her parents house in Green Bay and will then be at Mike's for Thanksgiving with Todd, Ally and the boys.  Thank you!

November 9th update

Nancy's Dr still does not have results.  This CARIS is a wonderful new test that is oversold right now.....he should know tonight or Monday.  We continue on......thanks BC

November 4th update

Thank you all for your calls and cards.  We know the second biopsywas successful  is being used for analysis.  As of Thursday afternoon, they did not have final results yet.  We should know something this week.  Will keep you posted, BC

October 22nd second post

Nancy met with Dr Anthony today.  After about a one hour meeting, it was agreed that no medicine decision would be made until the results of the second biopsy were known.  This should be later next week. 

Nancy also had her scheduled Zometa infusion. 

So we wait....  thanks for all the support.

October 22nd update

Nancy had the biopsy done at Evergreen on Friday.  It was a long day as the times changed to 8:00am start.  After more review by the Doctor's in both Kirkland and Spokane, it was determined to have the biopsy from the hip again.  This meant a change to be put under general anesthesia.  That was rescheduled for 1:00.  The procedure was about 2 hours and went as planned.  Nancy recovered slowly.  Her right leg was numb and she could not walk, so she spent the night in room 8006 at Evergreen.  Next morning she was great.  We drove back on Saturday.  As usual, the Doctors and staff at Everrgreen were amazing.  Many thanks to our friends Dr. Jeff and Nurse Merrie Tomlin.  We also got to see Mike for dinner Thursday night.

So today we see Dr. Anthony....have an infusion, and may or may not start a new treatment.  Will keep you posted.

October 17th Update

The plan is changing.  There were no results from the first bone biopsy, so that procedure needs to be redone.  Therefore, we are going to Evergreen in Kirkland for that second procedure. It is scheduled for 1:00 this Friday, check in is at 11:00.  We will be driving over tomorrow, and probably return on Sunday. 

This also means next Monday's start on new medication is delayed.  I am sure we will not have a schedule for this until next week.  More to follow......thanks for all the great support, BC

October 10th Update

Met with Dr Anthony......and we have a new plan!!!!  Nancy will continue no meds until October 22.  Then she will start AFINITOR, a drug made by Novartis.  This just got approved, it is everolimus that also has exemestane (I have absolutely no idea if the last 2 big words are spelled right).  You can google AFINITOR and see the information.  Basically, it appears to be another approach with the same strength( risk and side effects) as the Femara.  This is a daily pill.  She will be on this for 90 days and then another set of scans to see what is going on. 

They also made some minor adjustments to make Nancy more comfortable.

Nancy is glad to have a new plan!  Thanks for all your support, BC

October 9th update

We were told just now that tomorrow's meeting with the Doctor will not include a new treatment plan.  There were some delays in the CARIS tests.... so it appears we will not know the new plan until the end of next week (at best).  Nancy has been super tired and very achey......  they will see her tomorrow to see about something for that.......but for now, now new cancer treatment!   Thank you!

September 26th second update

Nancy had her infusion today.  the meeting on her next treatment plan is Oct 10th.  We really will not know more unitl then.  Nancy is totally supported by you all, thank you.

September 26th update

Nancy has her normal scheduled infusion today.  She will not know her new medicine plan yet.  they are doing a CARIS test on her cancer samples.  This takes some time.  Should know tonight when she will know when that next appointment is. 
thanks

September 21st update

Nancy had the bone biopsy today.  The took 6 bone samples from her right hip.  The doctor's and staff at Inland Imaging and Holy Family Hospital were amazing.  Nancy will rest this weekend....may have some pain in recovery due to the amount of samples.  Lab results and the new medication plan will probably happen Wednesday at her next infusion.  Thanks for all the calls, thoughts, cards, and support. 

September 19th update

The bone biopsy is now scheduled for this Friday at 10:45.  Not sure when we will get results or the new plan.  Thanks to all!

September 18th update

We met with Dr Anthony today.  The cancer is active and a new treatment plan needs to be made.  Nancy will be scheduled for a bone biopsy in the next week or so.  They will analyze the changes to the cancer and then make decisions on what meds to use.  Her one tumor marker almost doubled again in the last week.

That is really all we know.  This is not an easy time for Nancy.  We thank you all for the support you give to her (and me).  We will update and soon as we know more.

September 17th update

The PET scan was not conclusive, so Nancy had a bone scan last Thursday.  The preliminary report on Friday was that there was activity.....there is a chance she will need a bone biopsy to get a clearer read on what is going on.  Our appointment is tomorrow (Tuesday) at 10:15.  More to follow......

September 6th update

Nancy has two of her numbers increase on her last tests.  Therefore, she is having a PET scan today.
She should know the results later next week to see if any changes in her treatment need to be made.
Due to travel, the blog will be updated next weekend.  Thank you, BC

August 15th update

All of Nancy's numbers were in line at the July review.  Also, the meds change appear to have improved some of the pain issues.  Nancy (and I) visited Austin and she spent some time with the Todd and  the grandkids.  They are doing well.  Today is Mike's birthday......28 today.  Nancy will be traveling next week to Whidbey Island.  August 4th was 3 years since Nancy was diagnosed with cancer.......and we are thankful for the medical treatment and personal support she has had.  Thank you for helping her on this journey. 

June 26th update



Nancy had another review yesterday.  She has not had a good month in regards to pain and energy levels.  Two changes to her medications were made.  Sounds like there will be another set of scans in the September timeframe.  All of her "numbers" seemed to be in line.  Hopefully these med changes make a difference.  Thanks for all for wonderful support.

May 31st Update

Nancy had another review with Dr Anthony on Tuesday. There was another medicine change to hopefully help the arthritic pain that Nancy has been having. This pain is very predictable as it is a side effect of the 2 main drugs that Nancy takes. Nancy did spend some time in Seattle including Mother's Day at Mike's. She also went to Wisconsin to see her Mom and Dad. Nancy's Dad is 86 and gets chemo treatments as well. Summer is coming, and the warm weather should be a good thing for Nancy. Thank you all for what is incredible support.

April 24th update

Nancy met with her Doctor yesterday. All her numbers appear to be on track, the regular Femara appears to be doing what is supposed to do. That is very good news. She also had another infusion of Zomeda, the bone-builder-up medicine. They have added another med to help with the arthritis that accompanies using Zomeda for a long period of time. Nancy is on Day 5 of that so it is too early to know results. Over the last two months, Nancy has had some really good days and some fairly uncomfortable days. Thank you all for wonderful support.

March 5th update

Nancy had a complete review with Dr Anthony yesterday. Here is what he believed happened: September of last year, our insurance no longer would cover Femara due to cost, so they made us change to generic Femara. All generics typically have some differences in how they are made, how they are absorbed, etc. Most of the time, that does not change results. In Nancy's case, it does appear that it did change the results. Nancy's cancer came back or "spiked". When she went off all drugs for 5 weeks to prepare for the trial, the cancer "settled down" again. The only variable was the change to generic Femara. So, Nancy will go on real Femara for the next 90 days and we will have another review. This is good news as the side effects on real Femara for Nancy were minimal. Thanks to all for great support.

February 29th update

Nancy went in Monday for her first dosage of the trial drug. Her scans from the week before were improved.... so, they scheduled her for one more PET scan Wednesday and delayed any meds until next Monday. Yesterday Nancy had that scan... today she was told that it appears now that the Femara can still be her main med. This is great news as Nancy has been able to handle the side effects of Femara.

We have another review on Monday with Dr Anthony, but are sure that she will restart Femara and continue with the original first plan. As of today, we have no explanation for the cancer flare-up....maybe we get that on Monday, maybe not.

Thanks for the support.

February 21st update

Nancy had meetings and scans at the Doctor’s yesterday. She has round two of this Thursday with more meetings and scans. Monday starts the actual trial. Here is a paragraph given to us to explain more about this new med-under-trial:

Indibulin is a microtubule inhibitor. Microtubules are important for maintaining cell structure and allowing for cancer cells to divide and grow. A microtubule inhibitor would reduce this activity. Indibulin is similar to taxanes and vinca alkaloid chemotherapeutics. Indibulin is a synthetic small-molecule chemical entity that binds to tubulin and inhibits cell growth during mitosis. Indibulin does not interact with neuronal tubulins, thus less neurotoxicity (such as neuropathy). (I had help from our trial nurse on this paragraph….chuckle).

Nancy will be one of 3 people in the US on 200mg dosage. The med comes in pill form, and is taken for 5 days, then off 9 days. Monday and Tuesday are basically at the Doctor’s office getting first treatments and then blood draws and observation almost every hour. She also has another visit next Friday. Then it appears to be just Monday meetings and blood draws for the next few weeks.

Our hope is this works really well for Nancy and for many others in the future. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

February 3rd update

Nancy signed up for the medical trial today. The trial will begin for Nancy on 2/27. She will be having baseline scans and tests the week before that. The first month is very busy, then it rolls into a main routine requiring weekly blood draws for as long as she is on the medicine. There are also additional scans and tests than she had on a released med. Nancy will be around the 15th person in the US for this trial. She will be the 4th person on this trial for Dr Anthony. The only other trial site so far is in New York.

We are hoping for good things from this new drug for Nancy. We are also hoping that whatever they learn from Nancy's experience can maybe help others in the future.

We will keep you posted, thank you all for great support!

January 31st update

Nancy visited the Doctor, and no decision was made for the next medicine. Nancy has two options to choose from: 1) to take Faslodex, a monthly shot or 2) join a medical trial for a new medicine called Indibulin. Dr Anthony hs 3 other patients in this trial. This med will not be available on the open market until approvals are done, which could be 6-8 years. Dr Anthony feels both are good options. Nancy is reviewing the 13 page document for being a participant in the trial. Timing is different for each. If she chooses 1) then it starts next Monday. If she chooses the trial, the first dosage is Feb 24th.
Nancy is very open to comments if anyone has any trial experience. Thanks for the support, we will let you know soon what she decides.

We also reviewed the scans, and Nancy has no new cancer. The cancer she has does show increased activity. That is why we are changing meds.

January 29th update

Nancy had to go to the Doctor's on Friday....to get pain relief. She had 4 1/2 hours of IV's..... and now has had two days of no pain. Her next appointment has now been moved up to Tuesday, check in at 11:30. That is when we know the new regimen. Your support is wonderful!

January 19th update

Nancy had a review with Dr Anthony today. The results of the recent bone scan show that the cancer is more active again. There are no new cancer spots or areas. What this means is the Femara is no longer as effective in keeping the cancer cells minimally active. So, Nancy will have another CAT scan next Monday, and on Feb 1st, she will get new medicines. This is both a reminder of what she has, as well as somewhat routine in the treatment of her kind of cancer. Medicines last for some time, and then change is needed. We will keep you posted on these changes.

Thanks for your continued support!

January 4th Update

Nancy just celebrated another birthday, right after having Christmas with the whole Curry family. I am emailing from the Doctor's. All her numbers today were in range. She is getting scheduled for another bone scan and possible MRI for her hip pain. This is sort of routine as it has been 9 months since last scan. Happy New Year to all!!