Wow, what a difference a day can make when you have metastatic breast cancer in your liver! Cathy was awful on Wednesday and by the time we reached the U of C clinic today, she had double the energy and "voice".
We met with Dr. Suzanne Conzen and staff and were very pleased with her professionalism, candor and competency. Due to additional bleeding [cancer loves sources of blood], trauma, potential infection, and a firm belief that the underlying liver issue causing elevated enzymes is the cancer, Dr. Conzen thought it wiser NOT to biopsy the liver.
Since most chemotherapies are metabolized / processed IN the liver and Cathy's bilirubin is elevated to the point she can NOT receive most chemos, Dr. Conzen prescribed a much less toxic [to the hair, fingernails, etc] ORAL chemo [XELODA] that Cathy can self administer and is not processed in the liver. Additionally, there is strong evidence that this drug can be highly effective in helping to restore better liver function [proved by reduced bilirubin].
Like any drug, this one has potential side effects but a patient of Dr. Conzen's has been on this chemo for 40+ weeks and her bilirubin has fallen from 18 to ~1.5 [normal]. As usual, Cathy will follow the Drs. regimen and we will remain faithful and look forward to seeing what this treatment will yield. Praise God!
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