Shrinkage

Hello all. Just wanted to do a quick update as it's been a couple weeks. I've been feeling fairly good these last few days. I've only been dealing with some bowel problems (another lovely side effect most people don't know about) due to all the meds. But I've had some of my best days lately. My spirits are up. My body seems to be handling the chemo well. I've started to exercise lightly on my stationary bike. My appetite varies, but I've been trying to get down all the supplements and calories I can. I am still close to 50 pounds lighter than I was, but I'm hoping to gain at least 15-20 pounds back if I can.

I got a phone call yesterday from Danny Ainge. For those of you who don't know who he is, Danny is the general manager of the Boston Celtics. He's a former player who I watched as a kid growing up. I remember him helping us dismantle the Lakers many times, as we continue to do present day. I couldn't believe he called. We had a heart to heart talk. He's a great man who has a good perspective on life. For him to take time out of his busy schedule to talk to me was something he didn't have to do, and it made my day. My social worker, Allison, set it up and got me 4 tickets to the Celtics-Knicks game on the 29th. I should be able to meet Danny before the game, and possibly some of the team. I can't wait. I will force my body to feel good if necessary.

So I titled this post "Shrinkage" because I want everyone to "Think Shrink". Now that the cancer is stable, we are hoping to get the lesions or tumors to begin reducing in size, hopefully disappearing if possible. The smaller and fewer there are the better.

That's all for now. On a side note Jen and I are looking to visit California in early December. I am looking forward to that and to seeing our friends. We'll have to plan well so we can visit everyone. It will be fun.

-Andy

A Good Day

Hi all,

It's late in a long day. I'll fill in the details later but wanted to get the news out now. While we all hoped for the best, we steeled ourselves for the worst, and today brought something in between, a compromise of sorts.

Andy's CT scans indicated that his cancer is stable, which is good news for us. The cancer is being held in check by the targeted therapeutic (Tarceva) and the chemo (Alimta). Its not shrinking, but its also not growing overall. Ideally we want to get to a treatment where the cancer is shrinking. The compromise is that its good that its stable - this buys more time and possibilities.

Today we added another chemotherapeutic agent to his treatment - Carboplatin, which was one of the two chemo "ingredients" in the original treatment cocktail in early Spring. The Drs are hoping that the combination of Tarceva, Alimta and Carboplatin will start shrinking the tumors and prevent new lesions. Andy's tissue samples are being processed for additional biomarker analysis, in the hopes that he qualifies for clinical trials that are expected to begin in the near term.

All in all a good day. Andy had his infusions after the tests and meeting with Dr Janne, and then we headed home to rest, have some dinner and spend time with little Nicholas.


Thank you to everyone who reached out, prayed and sent good vibes and thoughts - we take every day with thanks and hope for another good day.

Tim