End of Round 2 in NY

Thanks for all of the uplifting comments and for your continued prayers. After my last post I had my HCG checked in Ann Arbor. I just over 37,000. That was the highest it has been in almost a year. I was in New York again this past Monday for the final treatment of the second round. My HCG on Monday, prior to receiving chemo, was back down to 27,000. It dropped 10,000 points in 4 days, without any chemo. No one can explain it. On Thursday after chemo I had it checked again in Ann Arbor, and it was down to 10,940. I also had a CT scan (my eighth in the last 12 months) on Friday. I will see my doctor again on Monday afternoon to receive the results of the scan. Hopefully the scan will make more sense than the roller coaster tumor marker.

Next week we will have to make some decisions regarding the clinical trial in New York. If there is evidence that the disease is progressing, then I will be dropped from the study. Although the tumor marker is all over the place, it does show an upward trend. This may indicate growth of the tumor, but because the numbers are so sporadic, there is no way to know what they truly mean. The hope is that the CT scan will provide a clear picture of what is happening, and hopefully it will be that the tumor is shrinking. the last CT scan was taken after the first round of the clinical trial. It showed that the tumor in my abdomen may have grown, but it also revealed signs of necrosis (cell death) in the center of the tumor. The tumor in my chest had not changed, which previously had shown some signs of activity on the PET scan. I originally had several other small tumors in my lungs that had shrunk tremendously, and had not changed in the last few CT scans. They also did not show any activity in the PET scan. Those may never go away, but likely are just scar tissue that will always be present as evidence of past tumors.

I am feeling well, but the chemo takes more out of me each time. I feel more fatigued after each treatment. On Wednesday I slept until 2 pm. The last hour and a half was with Ethan napping on my chest, so there are some perks to sleeping all day. The cold induced neuropathy has increased with each treatment as well. After the last treatment I noticed that the cold breeze in the morning caused my face to go numb, so I have grown a beard to deal with that. It is strange that the hair on top of my head is not growing much, but my beard is growing quite well. I guess I might as well grow hair where I can! Cold liquids and food still make my throat go numb. I even had trouble putting my contacts in for the first few days after treatment. The contact lens solution was slightly cool and it caused my eyes to burn for 30 seconds or so. I took a few days off and wore my glasses, and now I can't put my contacts in with no problems. This all can be attributed to the chemo. It is crazy what this stuff can do to your body. This chemo is clearly having many effects on my body, I just hope that killing the cancer is included on the list of effects.

I am watching the Michigan football game while typing this post. Normally I would not do anything to distract me from the game, but they are winning 56-6 right now! Poor Delaware State! Last weekend we spent a few days in the Irish Hills with some good friends. The Irish Hills is an area West of Ann Arbor known for it's lakes and hills and is a popular vacation area. We rented some cabins owned my Megan's aunt and had a great time. We had not gotten together with this group of friends in over two years. The last time we saw them was at a wedding, and only one couple had a kid. Now there are 6 kids in the group, so it was fun to see how that changed the dynamics of our gatherings. It was also fun to see all of the kids together. For Megan and I, it was wonderful to get away on a vacation. We have done our share of travelling in the past year, but it has all been for the purpose of treatment.

I will keep you posted this week as we find out what is next for me, and as we reach the one year anniversary of my diagnosis. Thank you all so much for checking in on me, pushing me along, and for all of your prayers.