New Challenges

Hi all,

I've promised to be short in the past and will do so again tonight as Jen and I are exhausted. I'll provide more detail and updates later this week but here's the short story to a long week.

Last Sunday Andy was hospitalized for pain management. The hospital ran a series of tests (xrays, CT scans, blood) and diagnosed him with pneumonia on Sunday. On Monday of last week they gave him a full body MRI and found that the pain was being caused by the growth of the tumor on the T7 vertebrae. Surgery was recommended for Wednesday to reduce the risk of paralysis. The MRI also revealed that the chemo regimen is not working, as the mass in the lung has not shrunk and there are additional lesions in his liver. The T7 tumor did not respond to radiation and chemo, and has grown to about an inch.

I flew out Tuesday after work in preparation for surgery. During the trip out, the doctors consulted and decided to call off the surgery, due to the potential for post operation complications from Avastin, the second line drug treatment that he was receiving with the chemo. Avastin can cause abscessing for surgical wounds.

Andy is resting comfortably in the hospital, and his blood counts have gotten better (WBC, RBC, platelets). For now, we have to wait until the Avastin clears the system in order to have the spinal surgery. He is looking at a new chemo drug as well as additional consultation on testing from DFCI. We are working hard :) and hope to boost him from the hospital tomorrow, so that he can rest at home. In the interim up to the surgery, he will get a pick line, which will allow him to have IV fluids & antibiotics administered at home, and he will wear a back brace, and is on a new pain management regimen. He will have the surgery in early May and than be in the hospital (ICU, main population) for about a week afterwards.

So, good news in a round about way is that because of this episode we learned that the first line chemo treatment was not working a bit earlier, which is allowing us to move onto the next treatment options. The doctors have assured us that the additional wait time will not increase the risk of paralysis. Andy is getting stronger through the antibiotics and breathing treatments, so the pneumonia threat is dropping. And we continue to target mid May for an onsite consultation with Dana Farber in Boston.

Thank you to all the folks that reached out to help during this past week with meals, help with Nicholas, work, visits, kind words etc. This was a hectic week with a much more circuitous journey than I have described, and we kept quiet for a bit to allow the very dynamic situation settle a bit. I'll send more as we bring Andy home, and update this blog with some pictures.

Team Andy

Third chemo down...

Well, the third chemo is in the old system now doing it's thing. It must be doing something because I have zero energy these days. Even writing a blog entry is a struggle. So everything went well on the chemo, although my back pain is still considerable. I have been able to sleep on the couch, but still put some chair time in during the night.

Next I go for scans which will help determine how well the chemo and radiation have been doing. Those results will be big for me. As soon as I get dates I'll post them.

Dad went home and Tim is coming soon. That's all for now.

Halfway There!

Hi all - just a quick note via the East Coast office o' Tim. Its been a bit since we updated, as there has been a lot of ups and downs since the past chemo. I'll tell you what I know and let Andy add notes as he starts to regain strength.

As I mentioned its been a battle for Andy since the last chemo. Every time he gets chemo, his blood is taken a week later, and he is given a complete blood count (CBC) to check the impact of the chemo on his ability to transport oxygen, fight infections, and clot, among other things. These measurements are his Red Blood Cell (RBC), White Blood Cell (WBC) and Platelet counts, respectively.

So... a week after Chemo #2 (24 March) found Andy still in pretty rough shape. Completing the radiation and Chemo #2 concurrently left him weak, in pain, tired, unable to eat and really low in his WBC and Platelet counts. Start of week three (29 March) after Chemo #2 found Andy finally able to swallow, and the mucous in his lungs (both as a result of the radiation) subsiding, which allowed him to breathe easier as well as rest more horizontally. More rest, ability to eat allowed him to put a few pounds back on his frame.

Andy has been judiciously taking protein and greens supplements to help his body get the WBC and Platelet counts up. He also has been on pain medication in an attempt to let his body rest.

Dad flew out this week on Tuesday, and Andy had his levels checked again on Wednesday prior to Chemo #3. The levels were up sufficiently enough to allow him to have Chemo #3 administered. He's also going to be medicated to help prevent the chemo from bringing his WBC counts too low.

The downside is that he is not yet able to return to the East Coast to be consulted with at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. He was scheduled for an appointment on 15 April, but given his current condition, as well as the proximity to this latest round of chemo, it was thought that it be best that we push this appointment back. He'll be back East for a few days in May for the DFCI consult. Short term his next steps will be to continue to rest up, gain strength and prepare for his next round.

We have another important date coming up as well. Sometime during the week of 19 April Andy will have a full body scan as well as bone scan, to ascertain the efficacy of the current chemo. regimen. This will be compared to the scans from pre-treatment in mid February to measure the progression / regression of the cancer both at known and potentially new sites.

I and / or Andy will provide additional information as it develops. Thanks again for all the love, faith, prayers, hope, positive vibes and thoughts.

I'll leave you with this great note from a friend - not sure who the author is but it is the truth...

What Cancer Cannot Do
Cancer is so Limited...
It cannot cripple Love
It cannot shatter Hope
It cannot corrode Faith
It cannot destroy Peace
It cannot kill Friendship
It cannot suppress Memories
It cannot silence Courage
It cannot invade the Soul
It cannot steal Eternal Life
It cannot conquer the Spirit.