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!!