Dateline 2/10/10

We [Cathy, her sister Kay & brother-in-law Dan and I] met with Dr. Bayer on Monday, 2/8 PM for what will become a weekly blood draw & observation. While he was heartened to hear Cathy state her current intention to fight on, he did tell us some new and difficult things:

1. He described Cathy's "state" as catabolic. While I can't describe that well enough or thorough enough, suffice it to say it is daunting.
2. He mentioned that Cathy's bilirubin needs to get down to no higher than 2 to enable her to get on the PARP inhibitor study.
3. He told us that the ascitic fluid in her abdomen is rich in protein. While it is good to remove the fluid such that cancer is not bathing in / fed by it and she experiences some relief from the swelling, it means that after a draining, more fluid is produced which continues to deplete her body of the protein she needs. Also there is a concern not to eat too much protein to make up for the loss, as that could cause kidney failure - we walk a fine line.

Finally today we learned of her bilirubin levels from the 2/8 blood draw: 9.4

While this is discouraging, both Dr Bayer and Conzen [U of C breast cancer specialist] cautioned us that it will take 3-4 weeks before we'll know of the efficacy of the current chemo Cathy is on, Xeloda. I'll recap the bilirubin levels over the last month:

1/15 5.2
1/26 9.9
1/28 11.3 [drawn @ U of C]
1/30 7.9
2/8 9.4

I just wonder about the accuracy of 1/28 or 1/30 or the potential that the U of C lab equipment is calibrated to different standards than Delnor's eqpt.

The side effects of Xeloda are mounting up on Cathy, in addition to her pain & discomfort from the cancer and ascites, but she'll get a week's reprieve after her last dose on Friday evening. We continue to COVET your prayers for strength, comfort, healing and mercy from God our father.