April 29, 2013

I realized today that I haven't posted an update in a while...it seems that the past few weeks have just been crazy busy! Ken had his first round of chemo on April 11th. He received two drugs: Avastin (which he will receive every two weeks) and Carboplatin (which he will receive every 4 weeks). So far, he seems to be tolerating the drugs pretty well. The Carboplatin is the harder of the two drugs to tolerate and has more side effects, so he has to increase the steriods and take nausea meds before and for a few days after recieving the drug. The first weekend he was nauseous, and extremely tired, but his symptoms seemed to subside within about 4 days. He's had a few other minor issues, but nothing too terrible so far. He had his second round of Avastin today, which he seems to have breezed right through. The biggest side effect of the Avastin is an increase in blood pressure, and his blood pressure has remained stable thus far. In other news, his latest MRI results were good, his tumor is "stable" when compared to the March 19th MRI, and shows no significant change. His headaches and tremor seem to have subsided as well, and Dr. M. is starting to decrease his daily steroid, which makes me happy. Hoping the rest of the month continues to go well!

Starting Chemo...

After many phone calls & discussions with various medical professionals, Ken will be starting Chemotherapy tomorrow. We traveled back to Dana Farber, whose doctors concur with the surgeon's decision not to operate. Apparently, the tumor has grown quite a bit (especially between February and March) and is too "fluffy"...meaning ill-defined and invasive, so they won't be able to remove a significant enough amount to justify the risk of surgery. There are no clinical trials available at either Sloan-Kettering or Dana Farber at this time - or anywhere else within a reasonable distance from home. I have also checked several cancer centers, including M.D. Anderson and the Mayo Clinic (all locations), both of whom offer some interesting trials, none of which Ken seems to qualify for - either due to tumor grade, size, or operability. Due to the agressive nature of the tumor, Dr. M. Does not want to delay treatment any further, so Ken begins Avastin tomorrow, to be combined with a second drug at some point (I think tomorrow is only the Avastin). We met with a local oncologist today - because the Avastin is a "protocol" drug, he can eventually recieve his infusions here in CT and cut down on our commute to NYC. That's all I know for now...he has an MRI scheduled for Tuesday, and a visit with Dr. M. The following week.

April 1, 2013

Dr. Gutin has decided that surgery would not be beneficial. That's all I know for now.