Nancy and I met with the radiation Doctor (Dr Jason Call) and reviewed the MRI for the second time. Dr Call reviewed the possible role of radiation at this time. We discussed doing no radiation, doing radiation on just the mass by her right eye, and using radiation on her total brain. He explained the risks and probable benefits of each option. When we were done, he stated that he represents an option that must be part of the total treatment and Dr Anthony is in charge of that. Today we meet with Dr Anthony and will hopefully agree on adding or not adding radiation at this time. The Lapatinib is still not approved and we need to get this going.....maybe today.
Nancy continues to be very weak. She cannot wait to see Todd/Ally/Keeton/Deacon and Mike.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Monday, October 7, 2013
October 7th update
Nancy had her appointment today. The results of the lumbar puncture were "suspicious but not conclusive". What that appears to mean is that there was cancer in the spinal fluid, however not so much that more radical treatments are required at this point. Nancy received her first Herceptin treatment. This is IV and will be given weekly. The Lapatinib is not yet approved by our insurance. We hope to have this done and Nancy start taking around Thursday of this week. This med is a pill and she will take 4-5 per day. Nancy is still very weak and this is a critical time.
There will be careful observation on her eye issues. There may be discussion about radiation on the eye later this week. In 4-6 weeks, there will be another MRI and hopefully progress will be made. If there is not improvement, more radical treatments will done......where a port is placed in Nancy's head and they inject the chemo into the brain directly. We are hoping this will not be the case.
Nancy is resting this week.......Mike, Todd, Ally and the grand-boys Keeton and Deacon get here Friday night......maybe the best therapy of all! Your support is special, thank you.
There will be careful observation on her eye issues. There may be discussion about radiation on the eye later this week. In 4-6 weeks, there will be another MRI and hopefully progress will be made. If there is not improvement, more radical treatments will done......where a port is placed in Nancy's head and they inject the chemo into the brain directly. We are hoping this will not be the case.
Nancy is resting this week.......Mike, Todd, Ally and the grand-boys Keeton and Deacon get here Friday night......maybe the best therapy of all! Your support is special, thank you.
Thursday, October 3, 2013
October 3rd update
Nancy had the lumbar puncture this morning. The Doctor performing the procedure was Sanjiv Parikh. He is from the west side adn is helping out this week in Spokane as they were short staff. He works with Jeff Tomlin at Evergreen........everything went very well today. Now we wait for results. Best guess is we know nothing more until Monday at our 10:30 appointment. Thank you, BC
Monday, September 30, 2013
September 30 update
Wow, a full day! Nancy had her echocardiogram this morning and results were very good. We spent this afternoon at our Doctor's......and we have a plan. The lumber puncture will be done here Thursday morning in the Valley, under sedation. Results will be to the Docs Friday end of the day. We have ordered the new meds for Nancy to start next Monday. They are Herceptin, the HER2+ drug of choice, and Lapitinib. Herceptin is once per week and Lapitinib is a daily pill. Herceptin attacks the cancer. The brain has many natural protective barriers so the Lapitinib actually allows the Herceptin to go around those barriers and work in the brain. All this will be co-approved by Matt at Evergreen in Seattle.
We reviewed the MRI's. Nancy has cancer spots on both layers of her skull, in the brain, and the biggest spot by her eye. Also C1 and C2 have cancer. Radiation on her brain if off the table for now except possibly the eye. This will be watched closely. Also, possible cancer chemo treatments directly into the brain is also off the table for now.
There is no question that Nancy has a real challenge here. The cancer has been in her breast, lymph nodes, bones, liver, skin and now her brain. However this new drug is FDA approved and Steve knows of cases where this has been very effective. So we are hoping for the best......thanks for all the support, BC
We reviewed the MRI's. Nancy has cancer spots on both layers of her skull, in the brain, and the biggest spot by her eye. Also C1 and C2 have cancer. Radiation on her brain if off the table for now except possibly the eye. This will be watched closely. Also, possible cancer chemo treatments directly into the brain is also off the table for now.
There is no question that Nancy has a real challenge here. The cancer has been in her breast, lymph nodes, bones, liver, skin and now her brain. However this new drug is FDA approved and Steve knows of cases where this has been very effective. So we are hoping for the best......thanks for all the support, BC
Sunday, September 29, 2013
September 29th update
Nancy went into the Doctor on Wednesday to see if she could get something to help her energy. They made a couple of adjustments in her meds. Friday she was no better so we visited again. She still had no energy and her right eye was still not right. It was determined to have a PET scan of her head. Initially, there was no findings, then further review from the radiologist showed some differences to her previous scan. The next step was an MRI scan of Nancy's head Friday night at 10:00 at Holy Family.
The results were expedited and the news was not good. The cancer has changed to HER2+. We knew that. What we did not know is that it was agressive and had spread to her brain. Nancy has cancer in the bone of her skull, on her brain, next to her right eye and in the top 2 vertebrae. Nancy had no symptoms other than the eye to detect this. She has not had a headache in 2 months. This weekend she is to rest.
Monday we start with an echocardiogram. The probable new treatments are very hard on the heart and the echo results are important. Then we visit Dr Anthony for an update. We know another test, a lumbar puncture, will also need to be done before they can determine treatment. It is possible we will have this procedure done in Kirkland and also meet with the Doctors there to have 2 opinions on what to do next.
We will do our best to keep this blog updated. Your support and prayers are appreciated.
The results were expedited and the news was not good. The cancer has changed to HER2+. We knew that. What we did not know is that it was agressive and had spread to her brain. Nancy has cancer in the bone of her skull, on her brain, next to her right eye and in the top 2 vertebrae. Nancy had no symptoms other than the eye to detect this. She has not had a headache in 2 months. This weekend she is to rest.
Monday we start with an echocardiogram. The probable new treatments are very hard on the heart and the echo results are important. Then we visit Dr Anthony for an update. We know another test, a lumbar puncture, will also need to be done before they can determine treatment. It is possible we will have this procedure done in Kirkland and also meet with the Doctors there to have 2 opinions on what to do next.
We will do our best to keep this blog updated. Your support and prayers are appreciated.
Monday, September 23, 2013
September 23rd update
Nancy had her appointment with Dr Anthony. All her labs were good. Nancy did not get any treatments. She will have Zomeda on Wednesday and resume chemo next Monday. Nancy's eyesight has been hampered by the steroids. Also, she lost weight last week and another 2 pounds since last Friday. She was too weak to start the chemo today.
Looking forward, she will have 6 chemo treatments (2 cycles of 3 weeks on, one week off). There will then be a full series of scans. Then right around Thanksgiving, Nancy will start a new medicine treatment as her cancer has fairly dramatically changed to HER2+. Dr Anthony has at least 3 FDA approved drugs to try. He will base the final decision until the scans are done.
It could be another few weeks before Nancy is recovered from post radiation tiredness.
Your support is great........we have a new plan.......and hoping for the best!
Looking forward, she will have 6 chemo treatments (2 cycles of 3 weeks on, one week off). There will then be a full series of scans. Then right around Thanksgiving, Nancy will start a new medicine treatment as her cancer has fairly dramatically changed to HER2+. Dr Anthony has at least 3 FDA approved drugs to try. He will base the final decision until the scans are done.
It could be another few weeks before Nancy is recovered from post radiation tiredness.
Your support is great........we have a new plan.......and hoping for the best!
Saturday, September 21, 2013
September 21st update
Nancy was not supposed to have a Dr appointment this week.......but Friday she had to go in. Nancy had very little energy from 3 things: 1) steroids 2) after radiation effects 3) the amount of pain meds she had been on. So, they decreased the steroids ramp (you have to gradually have to come off steroids) and decreased the Fentanyl or pain meds she was taking. There is nothing to do but wait when it comes to post-radiation tiredness. Hopefully starting this morning she will gain some energy. Good news, no real pain. We see Dr Anthony and will discuss the changes to the cancer and future new treatments. Have a great weekend!
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