August 31st update

First things first, Happy Birthday Todd, who is 34 today!

Yesterday Nancy's pain returned in a fairly big way.  So we spent 5 hours at the Doctors and here are the findings:

-Nancy had another scan

-after 3 phone calls with the scan interpreter in Arizona......they found a shadow of a new spot in Nancy's S2 part of her spine.......that appeared to be pressing against the nerve there.  This could be the cause of all the pain.  It would show up completely better on an MRI.  The MRI given to Nancy last week stopped at S1;  so they just missed seeing it.  They put Nancy on turbo steroids and bed rest for the next few days. 

-Tuesday is supposed to be chemo day.  However, if Nancy is not better, they may want to spot radiate the S2.  They would determine that after another MRI.  The tricky part of this is that radiation would mean no chemo again for some time........and we know the cancer regained some momentum after no chemo for 2 months. 

We will know more after Tuesday.  Due to schedule, the blog may not be updated until Friday of next week........

Your support is special.  Thanks to all!  Happy Labor Day weekend!

August 27th update

One comment left off yesterday.......  there is the question of whether Nancy will lose her hair again on the restart of chemo.  Nobody seems to know.......guess we just wait and see.

August 26th update

Nancy had her review with the Doctor today.  Note: the past week has been very hard for Nancy; needing IV pain meds twice and no energy at all.  After review, here is the status:

-the biopsies all came back positive, which means the breast cancer has now spread to the skin and in more than one area.  (Had it been in one area, radiation was a possible treatment...that is now off the table).  This means the treatment for the skin must be for her whole system.

-the PET scan results were back and there are 2 new spots of cancer, a new one in the liver and a spot on a right-side rib.  The cancer is active.

-The genomic testing to see if the cancer has changed structurally is not done yet and may be another week.

-Dr. Anthony restarted Nancy today on the same chemo she was on 2 months ago.  There is a recommended lifetime amount one should take of this med and Nancy will be exceeding that amount after 4 more treatments.  This drug has been around a long time and Dr Anthony has done this before under these circumstances.  Nancy needs the cancer less active and the skin treated now.  So here we go again, 3 weeks of one treatment per week on, then one week off. 

-Nancy felt good about this plan.  She was relieved to get going again on treating the cancer. 

-No firm date was established for the how long we will be on this plan.

-All her lab numbers were in range.

I hope this makes sense, and thanks for all the wonderful support!

August 16th update

SBRT is done.  Nancy now gets off until next Thursday, when she will have the PET scan.  I little rest from medical is a good thing.  There will be no updates probably until after the 8/26 Doctor's appointment.  Your support is special, thanks.

I know this blog is about Nancy, however Todd, our oldest, bought a medical trials company in Austin Texas.  Our whole family is excited about this venture!

August 14th update

Nancy got the scan results back, and they were good.  She has a sore eye but it is not due to the cancer.  She will see an eye Doctor 8/29.

SBRT number 4 is now complete, tomorrow is the final.

We met with Dr Anthony to review the whole situation.  Dr Anthony will be checking to see if the structure of the cancer is changing.  This new cancer on the skin may be treated by electron beam radiation.  Due to her new issues, Nancy may qualify for a medical trial.  The biopsies taken this afternoon will be sent off for 2 reasons 1) to see if the structure really has changed and 2) does Nancy qualify for the trial.  Additionally, Nancy will have a head to toe PET scan next Thursday.  If all of the test results are back, we will know the new plan on Aug 26th at 11:00.  It is very possible we will not have the data but should know that week of the treatment plan. 

Nancy gets 5 days off from any treatment.........hopefully to rest.  Thanks for all your support, BC

August 13th update

Today Nancy had her scan (we should know results next week).  Also, we discussed the SBRT treatments and have good news...it will be a 5 treatment series so Thursday will be the final radiation.  Thank you.

August 12th update

Today was routine and very not routine.  The routine...  Nancy had her third treatment of SBRT; it took about 25 minutes and went ok.  It appears we have 2 more treatments with the last being Thursday.  We have a call with the Doctor tomorrow to confirm this.   

The non-routine was not good.  Two weeks ago Nancy had a biopsy on a spot on her left side.  I did not even put this in the blog as we thought it was no big deal.  It turns out the biopsy was positive...which means the breast cancer is now active in the skin.  So......tomorrow Nancy has a scan of her head (there is some swelling and pain in her right eye).  Wednesday, we have SBRT and more biopsies.....they are not fun.  Thursday we have a review with Dr Anthony and the final SBRT. 

So what is next.  Dr Anthony is working on Nancy entering a medical trial for a new drug that could/should treat her combination of symptoms.  There are other alternatives if we are not in the trials.  This is clearly a new hurdle.....

Nancy is scheduled to have next week off from all appointments.

Thanks for all your support.  I am sorry if I do not explain this well........but we have only preliminary information and we know you want to know what is going on.  Your support is fantastic.  Thank you.

August 7th update

The first treatment of SBRT is done.  The "time on the table" was about 36 minutes.  This will be less on future treatments.  Those are tomorrow at 6:00pm, Then next week Monday at 4:38pm, Wednesday at 11:00am and Thursday at 12:12pm.  After that treatment they determine if they are done or if they need 5 more treatments. 
We are back on the original schedule.

August 6th update

Nancy will have her first SBRT treatment tomorrow at noon.  The plan is complete and the insurance questions are settled.  The tentative schedule is 8/8, 8/12, 8/14, 8/15.  The schedule will be confirmed tomorrow. 

August 5th update

Nancy is still on hold to start the SBRT due to insurance denial of some part of the upcoming procedure.  This is getting worked between Dr Call and the insurance company.  Nancy had a very quiet weekend....she really does not have much energy.  We hope to have an update soon, thank you!

August 3rd update

Nancy is no longer on pain meds.  She has had a good couple of days.....not tons of energy but feels ok.
The SBRT is now delayed (we will not start on Monday).  The staff did not complete the review of scans and the plan for her radiation.  It could be started as early as Tuesday.  Your support has been incredible.