Long Overdue [2 of 2]

The events of this past week warrant a post all their own, so strap in! January 11 proved to be, almost on queue, another week without chemo [it seems the story is the same every third week]. Cathy's WBC was at 0.9 [again, normal is 4.1 - 10.9]. Additionally, Cathy experienced excruciating THRUSH in her throat again, almost immediately following the last dose of Flucazanole from her prior bout with THRUSH - but this is just one more result from such low WBC. Because the Dr and nurses all thought Cathy looked strong, and she is such a good patient and can rebound on her own, Dr. Bayer elected to avoid the cost [and PAIN] and forego the Neupogen shots.

Not knowing why he did this and [with the incorrect misunderstanding about previoius transfusions], I contacted the Dr. on Tuesday for clarification. I also mentioned that Cathy and I had compared the last three "liver panels" against the original blood draw from 9/14. While some of the key liver enzymes had come down slightly over the last 6 weeks or so, they were all SIGNIFICANTLY higher than those from 9/14 and one key measurement went up.

Dr. Bayer had been on some task that took him away from seeing patients for several weeks, so after we hung up he reviewed Cathy's liver measurements. He called me back within 2 hours on Tuesday to suggest a new CT scan ASAP and another blood draw on Friday, 1/15. En route to the CT scan on Wednesday evening, Cathy mentioned some new symptoms she had noticed that were abnormal. By Thursday when the Dr. called to inform us of the CT scan results [no new growths, but no reduction in the size of the tumor in her liver], Cathy also informed him of her jaundiced eyes and skin - signs of additional compromise in her liver.

Full results of Friday's blood draw should be known by our late AM chemo appt on 1/18. These last few days have been very difficult not knowing what else is wrong with Cathy's liver and if this will affect her ability to continue with chemo. Amidst all the fatigue [so UNlike Cathy], I did see some strength from her for a short period this afternoon and it gave me hope that we can still address these issues.

The goal is to get Cathy to the point that she can receive the "PARP inhibitor" that is in final testing now. The test is going so well that our Dr. is optimistic it may receive FDA approval by mid-summer '10. We have, to this point, opted against getting in the test as there's a 50% chance she would get the chemo and placebo instead of the chemo and PARP inhibitor and there are vastly different and apparent results that all can see, even though it is a double blind study. Please pray with us to this end. Thanks for caring, encouraging, helping and praying.