kris00j

Well… Results of scan #2 on the trial. Mostly stable or minimal shrinkage. Nancy of you know this part… It seems I gave small nodules on my lungs and my kidney. Too small to determine anything at this point, so that’s hopeful. But they were there last scan and not reported! Ugh! I hate lazy radiologists. I know many gave had nodules for years, but it was still a bit of a heart stopper for me.
I am still on the trial. My phosphates are getting lower, but still high. My blood counts were low, esp. WBC, which was extremely low. But my onc said she’s willing to wait and see…
Overall a positive report, I think. Major side effects are lots of reactions to foods, esp fruit for some reason. So my main source of nutrition has become an issue….

Third update for me! I’m now enrolled in another clinical trial with Dr. Nevena Damjanov at Penn Presbyterian Abrahams Medical Center. It’s a longer drive, but in 8 weeks it’s working!
And I still get to see Dr. Denlinger at Fox Chase every once in a while so I’m happy. Dr. Damjanov is a very caring onc, too. I feel like I’ve known her longer than I have.

I had my first “official” ct scan yesterday. I get the results Thursday. I DO know that unofficially, one of the areas in the crowd of stuff is smaller. I also know the lesion on the right of my liver, remote from everything, is unchanged. Of course, this is from a scan while I was in the hospital, and nothing was measured.
So I wait until Thursday to find out the official news.
My phosphates have been out of whack. Not sure why. But I’m on a low phosphate diet. Anyone who knows me knows how hard this is… I LOVE my cheese and pizza!!

I’m sorry tom is off the trial. I hope the onc and Dr. Javli can come up with a great new game plan.
6.5 months? That’s all? So I have 5 months to go… I’m actually planning on being one of the longer lasting patients. My last trial I had everyone by about a year.

Ashley, many mutations cross cancer lines, especially in the gastric area. And cc is basically colon cancers brother or sister. They are very close, according to my surgeon they are more closely related than cc and liver cancers. In my original biopsies, I had a breast cancer mutation. Unfortunately, that is not the case anymore.
I hope Tom improves enough to get back on the trial. Have you discussed lowering the dosage? My onc says it’s a possibility if this stupid stuff keeps up. I hope the biopsy shows a mutation compatible with Keytruda or Obtivo so Tom can get on that if he has to leave the trial.
Try to stay positive. It works!

Ashley,
What great news about Tom! Although I’m sorry about the bone lesion. I guess is was lucky with radiation… I just had a little nausea and tiredness, but it was manageable.
I’ve had a tough time since starting the drug, but I don’t believe any of it has to do with the trial. I had a blood infection and then horrible reactions to the antibiotics. 10 days total in the hospital, but I went to the one affiliated with my new oncs office so I could continue the trial while in the hospital. Finding approved drugs was unbelievably difficult.
So far, since I finished the antibiotics, I’m not having any bad effects. Of course, I’m only on week 4. I had a cat scan while in the hospital, and I believe I have another one in 4 weeks. I’m nervous, as only one of the 3 new areas was biopsied so I don’t know if all of them have this mutation. I sure hope so!
As far as the 300 mg daily… My onc said they have the option of lowering the dose if needed. Maybe you need to do that for a few weeks so he can build his levels back up? It should be an option, at least. And, yes, chemo drugs in our system continue to work for a while. So although I understand his concerns I hope he doesn’t worry too much.

Kris