Hi Everyone,
Jaime's wedding turned out really nice. We had a great day as the weather held off from any storms. She looked absolutely beautiful and there were no issues. I hope to be able to post some pictures. If you don't see them yet, that means I'm having difficulty so just be patient. Amanda will help me when I can get her to stop for a minute.
The not such great news involves my last scan that I had. Like the last one, it shows progression of my disease. This scan was done the Monday after Jaime's wedding so I guess that would have been on the 24th. The report said that there are now 5 liver lesions and both pancreatic tumors have enlarged. My splenic vein is completely obstructed and my splenic artery is constricted. So this means that I have less bloodflow to my spleen. So far this hasn't been a problem for me, but my doc said it could be. There is no longer a definite distinction between my stomach and pancreas. The doctor doesn't think the tumors have spread to my stomach, but they are communicating (for lack of a better word) with my stomach or hanging over my stomach to some degree.
So now what to do? My doctor reminded me about Detroit. There are no other chemotherapy options for pancreatic cancer. I've tried them all. (All 4 of them)! This is the shocking, upsetting news. Because there has been so little research done for pancreas cancer, there are very few tried and true chemotherapy drugs for the job. If you'd like to help with this situation I urge you to send a donation to PANCAN. This is an organization that is committed to education and research. Hopefully by the time my girls are my age, this disease won't have to be a death sentence. Anyway....back to what I'm going to do.
I went to Detroit just yesterday with Mike to meet the doctor who is in charge of the phase I trials. I won't go into everything you wanted to know about clinical trials, but I will tell you that I'm not eligible for phase 2 and 3. Phase I means that I will get a drug. There are no placebos. The study is mainly concerned with what doses are safe in humans, the best way to give the drug, and maybe a few other things that I can't remember right now. I may get lucky with the drug they give me and have some shrinkage or not. The doctor said that if it isn't working, he will pull me off that study and try another one. I will have to stay there for a week or so when getting started with a study. I won't find out details about that until they decide which study they want me on. There is a chance, but I won't get my hopes up, that hotel accomodations will be paid for by the study.
I am pleased with the doctor and the hospital. Unlike my experience in Baltimore, these people were really nice and made me feel as though they really cared about me. Similar to my experience with CTCA. The doctor seemed intelligent and had a sense of humor. He was very easy to talk to. We talked about my current health, what I can still do and can't do anymore etc. The MA came back in the room after he left and told me that he said I was a fantastic candidate! That's good news because you have to be healthy enough for a study or they simply won't take you. If I don't get better with the first study, I need to be able to go onto the next so staying healthy despite having this disease is my JOB right now. I need to eat right and make time to exercise (treadmill) to keep in good shape.
How about a subject change?! Mia got baptized last weekend and I got to make her dress. At first, after receiving this news, I wasn't really in the mood to sew. I had the dress cut out, but didn't start to put it together until Friday morning. I stuck with it and managed to finish Saturday night right in time for the big day. She looked very angelic! Now I basically am going to concentrate on getting my house in order (just in case) and doing things that make my heart sing!
No one knows how much time they have left, but having a disease like this one is a harsh reminder that it could all come to an end sooner than planned. My doctor told me, after I asked, that if this doesn't work, I would only have 6 months tops. We still have prayer and miracles really do happen. God knows what I want. I just have to hope and pray that it's what he wants to. Please continue to pray as you have and hopefully we can all convince him. Thank you! Love, Sharon
