More Chemo is Likely

I received a call today from my oncologist in Ann Arbor, Dr. Winegarden. He had a chance to converse with Dr. Einhorn over the weekend via email regarding the results of the CT Scan. It was Dr. Einhorn's feeling that the PET scan would not give us much more information than the CT, and that I am not a good candidate for surgery. His recommendation is a chemo regimen involving two drugs, paclitaxel (Taxol) and gemcitabine. This is another treatment created at IU by Dr. Einhorn, and his initial, small studies have shown some success. Dr. Winegarden suggested we go ahead with the PET scan scheduled for tomorrow night, and I agree. If there is even a small chance that it will provide additional helpful information, then I want to have it done. Besides, it looks like the insurance company finally approved the preauthorization. The PET is scheduled for 6:00 Wednesday night.

I have an appointment with Dr. Winegarden on Thursday, followed by an appointment to start chemo. We should have the results of the PET scan by then, so if it indicates any chance of surgery we can still delay chemo if necessary. The chemo would be administered once a week for three weeks. I would then have a week off before starting another round. I do not know for sure how many rounds I will need, or what the side effects will be. They will likely be more of the same (losing the hair that has begun to grow again), but they should not be as strong as in previous chemo treatments.

I did find the published study on this treatment, authored by Dr. Einhorn, and have provided a link to it below. It was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in 2007. I will warn you that it does not paint a rosy picture of my situation, so read at your own discretion. Prior to the introduction of this treatment, there was no chemo regimen that had been successful with a patient that had failed high-dose chemotherapy. This study was a small one, but has had some success and may be a potential cure. Of the 32 patients treated in this study following unsuccessful treatment with high-dose chemo, 6 had complete remission for greater than 40 months. The rest of the details are in the link below, and I should have more info after my appointment on Thursday.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17290059?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

This is certainly not the positive report we were hoping for, but we may still get better news with the PET Scan. Nonetheless, I still feel confident that I will beat this, and my doctors will be publishing more papers about me in the future (so far they have submitted 2 or 3 papers to national journals regarding my cancer and treatment). I continue to feel strong and healthy, and it gets better every day. I have increased my walking to 3 miles. I continue to work out at the Y, doing 30 minutes of cardio followed by a full rotation of the weight machines. I increase weight and resistance every time. My hair is growing, and I even had to shave a few times this past week. I was told it would take 3 months for the hair to grow back. The fatigue is gone, and I no longer need naps unless I stayed up late to watch the Red Wings. I feel the healthiest I have felt in a year!

I know that I still have a tough battle ahead of me, but I refuse to allow this to beat me. My faith tells me that I will win, and I feel that I can still beat this cancer on determination and will alone. If Dr. Einhorn needs more proof that this treatment works, then he better sharpen his pencil because I will beat this cancer!