Cancer Caregiver

The body bone scan revealed the same results. Several spots that were detected last time (2005) were gone. However, there were several new spots of cancer that showed up. Dr. Blumenschein did not see any signs of cancer that he would think was causing Diana’s back pain – good news. We are attributing the back pain to the move. Overall, there was slightly more new cancer growth than cancer cells that disappeared.

We had a long discussion as to what strategy to move forward with. A new study was released this week discussing positive results using Avastin (chemo like infusion drug) with Tarceva (Diana’s current daily oral pill). We finally agreed to a new regimen for Diana. Her liver blood readings were a little high and that ruled out one of the possible chemo’s – Taxotere.

The new regimen is Diana would stop taking Tarceva immediately. Starting next week, Diana will start getting a new chemotherapy drug – Gemcitabine (Gemzar). The procedure will be that she will get Gemzar on next Wednesday. She will get a second dose the following week on Wednesday and skip the third week, It will then be two more weekly doses of Gemzar with the third (sixth) week off. After this six week trial, Dr. Blumenschein will measure the results and decide whether to continue with Gemzar.

We also met with the pharmacist to find a drug she could take for her sinus headache. A prescription has been called into the pharmacy that we will pick up tomorrow.

Bottom-line – it looks like we are back to the same place we were 18 months ago. We are starting a new regimen of Chemo. Hopefully Diana will respond to Gemzar as she did to Alimpta. Diana is somewhat relieved with the test results we received today. As Dr. Blumenschein said – Diana does not have that much disease visible in her body. If we can keep it in check, we will be very happy. Ever since last November, Diana has had to take her Tarceva pill at 7:00 AM every day. She doesn’t have to take Tarceva tomorrow morning and is going to celebrate by sleeping in.

Construction is moving forward on our new house. We have set a closing date of June 23. that means I will become the superintendent on that date. I have to get the inside painted – including two rooms faux painted – the hardwood floor put down and all the tile work done. We are scheduling our move in date for July 1. I have lots to get done in a short time. However, that date works well with Diana’s schedule at MD Anderson and will give us a long Fourth of July weekend in our new home. We can spend the time unpacking. Really a fun task to look forward to doing.

Thanks for your prayers and support.

We took advantage of the lull around July 4 and moved into our new house on July 1. We had not emptied 90% of the goods we shipped from Dallas so we had very little packing for the move. To make matters worse – our new house was not completely finished when we moved in. So as we were trying to give Diana time to rest – we would be interrupted with some worker. Complete chaos. The hardwood floor which was in the majority of the house – entry, dining room, kitchen and family room was finished on Saturday night. The movers brought the goods we were moving from the rental house on Saturday morning. Most of the boxes went into the garage. The only furniture we had moved was the kitchen table and chairs and the bed and dressers in our bedroom. Most of Diana’s Mom’s stuff was moved and set up. We slept in the new house Saturday night. We had a TV in our bedroom and Mom had one in hers. The cable connection was made live Saturday morning, so we had telephones, internet and cable TV. Good job Ed.

We moved the dishes, pots and pans, pantry items and clothes that we had unpacked in the rental house ourselves. Every time I went to the new house – a few times each day, I would load up the SUV. I would then unpack at our new house while supervising the painters, tile and hardwood floor workers. For the first two weeks after we moved into the new house, Mom and I were unpacking boxes and more boxes. Stacking the pictures, nick knacks, etc in the empty dining room. The interior designers were scheduled to come back to our house with the furniture and set up the house on July 14. That was two days after Diana received her chemo treatment so we modified their plan. Normally, they would like us out of the house for the day while they set up the furniture and decorate the house. But with Diana recovering from her treatment only a day earlier – we shut the door to Diana’s bedroom and Diana stayed in there. The designers brought a crew of seven people to our house that day. After they finished the family room, kitchen and dining room – we blindfolded Diana and moved her to her Mom’s room while the design crew attacked the Master Bedroom and Bath. Finally at 7:00 PM, after arriving at 9:00 AM, they were done. Diana was escorted – not blindfolded this time into the decorated house. This included putting up all of our pictures, hanging the drapes, etc. Diana was really pleased by the finished product. I was ecstatic because none of what was done could be blamed on me. The pictures were not hung crooked, nor were they in the wrong location. The house really looked beautiful. It would’ve taken us weeks or even months to get the house looking like this.

I don’t know why or how we selected to use the designers this time. But with Diana getting treatments, me just taking care of her et all – the house never would have been completed without them. Now here we were, July 14 and everything was installed and decorated including a new wall mounted TV and Bose surround sound stereo system. Wow. I just wanted to crash. Seeing the smile on Diana’s face was fantastic. She was so pleased. She had worked hard with the designer in picking colors, types of fabric, etc and to finally see it completed made – her glee with the final product.

It was back to reality on July 19 as we went for Diana’s next Gemzar chemo treatment. Just as Diana would recover from the prior treatment, it was time for the next one. We spent the next 2 weeks in our new house enjoying it. I hooked up our outdoor grill and cooked chicken one night. Quite a treat. We were starting to feel at home best we could. The two weeks flew by and it was time for more tests.

Diana was in lots of pain when we last met with Blumenschein on August 2. She has had a terrible time with the side affects of the new chemo – Gemzar. She had nausea for about 6 days after receiving each dose. That meant she had one day to recover before the next dose. Plus, the chemo has made her very weak and tire easily. It has been a tough 2 months for Diana. Diana was also in much pain during these past 2 months. Put all of the above together and i don’t know how we survived.

Anyway – the past 2 months is now history thank goodness. Most of the house is now complete. Diana’s mom and I have unpacked the majority of the boxes. Of course there are lots of little things to do or fix or add. At least the house is now livable. We have our furniture, TV’s and refrigerators for food.

This past week Diana had her series of blood tests, x-rays and CT Scan. We made several trips to MD-Anderson and finally on Wednesday, we met with Dr. Blumenschein to get the results. Now back to Dr. B’s report.

Good news. Upon review of the CT Scan – there was no new cancer growth detected anywhere. And in some areas there were some small amount of shrinkage of cancer cells. As a result. Dr. B is keeping Diana on the same Gemzar chemo regimen. Dr. B is changing the medicine she is taking daily – he is trying to lessen the pain and nausea. Diana now has a set cycle of pills to be taken every day. She has three new prescriptions – two of them are taken 2X per day and the other is 4X per day. Add in her Crestor which she takes daily for her cholesterol. Then she has 2 as needed prescriptions – one for pain and one for nausea. We both take a vitamin in the AM. Help. I need a computer program to keep track and remind us as to what pill is next and when.

Dr. B is attributing Diana’s pain to stress. He insists that from what he can see the cancer is not causing the pain in her back and neck. He is hoping that with less stress Diana will start to feel better. We talked about reducing the chemo dosage – but decided to keep it at the same level for the at least the next 2 doses. We will see Dr. B again on August 23 to review how Diana is responding to Gemzar with the new medicines.

Anyway – after our meeting with Dr. B on Wed afternoon – Diana had her Gemzar infusion on Wednesday evening. The first of a six week series after which she will have another CT Scan to see how the Gemzar is doing. She was not as sick the past couple of days. Today, she left the house with me for the first time (except for trips to MD-Anderson) since June and we went to a store and had a Subway sandwich out. It really tired her out, but she felt good about finally getting outside.

It appears as if the new medicine is helping. We will see how Diana’s body responds to her next Gemzar this coming Wednesday. I am worried about how weak the Gemzar is making Diana. It maybe controlling the cancer cells from growing and spreading, but it appears to be causing much fatigue to Diana. I just hope it is not too hard on her body.

In the meantime – thanks for your support and prayers.

Needless to say – they changed all of Diana’s medication – she is now wearing a patch for pain relief which must be changed every 3 days. We will see how that works – she has had the patch on for only a couple of hours today so we don’t know how well it will work on Diana. I am happy for the patch. Diana was always hesitant to take a pain pill – even when she was in lots of pain. She was concerned about getting addicted. With the patch, there is no choice and it is supposedly an even distribution over time of the pain medication. Diana’s dosage level is very low and can still be supplemented with oral pain pills if necessary.

Finally – today, September 6, we saw Dr. B. He told us that the CT scan was all good news. Diana’s lung tumor shrunk to about 50 % of the diameter (2.5 CM) it was in June. There was no signs of any new cancer. Dr B was extremely pleased with what he saw. I think both Diana and I were too stressed to enjoy the news. Although I sure am glad it was good news, I doubt that either of could have handled any bad news very well. We were both stressed to our limits and Diana was so weak physically. It appears of the latest chemo helped control the cancer but it sure has taken a toll on Diana’s physical condition. Six chemo treatments in a span of eight weeks was tough, extremely tough.

The week prior to Labor day, we had our first over night guests at our house. Diana’s brother and his wife drove down from Wichita KS for the week. One of the days while they were here, we all took a day trip to Galveston Island. It is about an hour ride. We walked on the beach sand for five minutes, ate lunch and drove back home. It was nice seeing the ocean. Living in Dallas all those years, you miss seeing the water. This short trip really exhausted Diana. It was the only day that Diana went out – except for trips to MD Anderson while they were here.

Otherwise, Diana spent almost all of each day in bed. I have taken on all of the household chores – wash clothes, dishes, change bed linens every two days, food shopping and cooking. I used to assist Diana with making the bed occasionally in the past. She was always so particular and I never did it right – so she would end up getting mad at me and doing the task herself. She is not complaining now. She enjoys having a fresh bed and I have lots more experience now – so I do a better job I guess. Diana’s Mom is helping with the food shopping and cooking. The house is finished except for the kitchen backslash. We are working with the interior designer to finalize the pattern design and tiles to use. Diana has selected some tiles for the designer to work with. Once the design is completed I will purchase the tiles and get the tile man in to finish the job.

All else is well here. In the meantime – thanks for your support and prayers.

In the meantime, we met with Diana’s pain doctor – also a female – Dr. K (last name too long to spell) – (who by the way did her internship at Mass Medical in Worcester, MA – Diana’s home town for those of you who did not know that trivia). Dr. K has changed Diana’s medication for pain. She is now wearing a patch that gets changed every 3 days – Duragesic – The patch is supplemented with pain pills on an as needed basis – Hydrocodone. The past two weeks since radiation, Diana has had less pain in her back and leg and has used less of the pain pills.

As we had a short lull between doctor appointments, we decided to take a quick trip to the Dallas area. Diana’s old women’s golf association was creating a cookbook to raise money for a charity to which Diana had submitted some recipes. The SWGA was having a lunch tasting party on Tuesday Oct. 17 at a member’s house where each person would prepare and bring one of their submitted recipes. Diana had submitted a recipe for Kibbe – a Lebanese food made from lamb. She spent the weekend making her Kibbe. We also scheduled visits for both of us to our Dentist for cleanings and checkups. Since we had Gaylord Texan free rooms, we would stay there. We departed on Monday morning and went directly to the dentist for Diana’s appointment. Once she was done we checked into the hotel and met some friends for an early dinner at the hotel. Of course we had had to take a walk to see her Koi which we did after dinner. Finally off to bed after a fun but very tiring day,

On Tuesday, I dropped Diana off at the party and went to my dental appointment after which I returned to pick up Diana. She had a great time. She saw many of her friends that had not seen for a long time. It was a great day for Diana. The lunch party only lasted a couple of hours but once again Diana climbed the mountain – she participated in the party, a goal she had set for herself. We returned to the hotel and rested in our room. Later that evening we went to the Riverwalk restaurant as we had done the evening before to see her Koi. Diana was really proud of her Koi and so happy to see them in the great environment they were now living. On Wednesday morning, we drove back to Katy. On Thursday, we had appointments with the radiation and pain doctors so there was not much time for rest.

Diana had her brain MRI 2 weeks ago – initially (a week after the MRI test) when we met with Dr. Bucci last week, we were told that there were no abnormalities seen in the brain MRI. On Thursday, October 26, I got a phone call from Dr. Bucci. She wanted to meet with Diana and discuss the MRI asap. We went to the clinic to meet with her Friday morning. She told us that upon further investigation of Diana’s brain MRI – they had detected Leptomeningeal disease. There is a thin membrane the goes around the brain and spinal cord. Inside the membrane there is flowing fluid. Well on the right side of her brain they had detected cancer inside the membrane which is called Leptomeningeal disease. Obviously, not good news. What a blow, especially after being told that the MRI was normal.

After I initially spoke with Dr. Bucci on Thursday and she told me of the discovery of Leptomeningeal disease, I went to the internet to find out what it was. What I found was not good. The disease spreads very rapidly and unless caught in its early days, it is a killer. I did not share this information with Diana but found it very difficult to accept. I understood why time was of the essence for Dr. Bucci to start radiation.

Dr. Bucci started radiation immediately on Friday afternoon. Diana had to have a mask made of her head, which we did Friday morning. When you get radiation, they mark the body with magic markers so they can point the radiation machines. Her stomach and legs still have the lines from that radiation. They use a marker pen and it will eventually wear away. Well – they don’t want to draw lines on the face/head so they create the mask which gets the marks. The mask is also used to hold the head in place on the table she lies on so the head will not move while radiation is being applied.

Friday afternoon we went back to MD-Anderson for Diana’s first brain radiation treatment. We went to the clinic this morning Saturday for her second treatment. Diana has now had 2 radiation treatments of the brain (Friday & Saturday). She will receive a total of 10 treatments of radiation to her brain. Normally the clinic is closed on Saturday and does not see handle out patients. However, Dr. Bucci wanted Diana to get her second radiation treatment as soon as possible, so an exception was made and Diana received her second radiation treatment Saturday morning.

Next week will be a busy week. Not only is Diana to receive a radiation treatment each day, but on Monday (Oct 30) she will have blood, x-ray and CT scan tests. On Wednesday, we will meet with Dr. Blumenschein to discuss the results and new plan of action for treatment going forward.

Diana has been very fatigued since the start of her radiation treatments. She is spending most of the day in bed other than trips to MD Anderson. During her first 10 radiation treatments – the nausea associated with the radiation just wore her out. Fortunately, she has not (nor are any expected) had any nausea with the brain radiation. Her face is very red and swollen, but no other symptoms at this time. However, Dr. Bucci has told Diana that radiating her brain will cause her to lose her hair on that side of her head. If that happens, Diana and I have an agreement that if she lost her hair I would shave mine off too. So the next time you see us, we will both probably be wearing hats.

Needless to say, but this latest development has been difficult upon us. However, Diana is very strong and determined to keep fighting this disease. Hopefully the results of next weeks tests will be more favorable. The mental stress of this situation is wearing on me – I can only imagine what it is doing to Diana.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. I hope all is well with all of you.

The good news – Diana has much less pain in both her back and head. She is very fatigued. Has spent all day in bed and dozing except to get up for the trip to MD Anderson. Immediately upon our return, it has been back to bed.

Last week Diana also had a frontal CT scan. We met with Dr. Blumenschein last Wednesday and the results were – Small growth from 1.6 to 2.0 cm of her tumor in the lung. The tumor has reappeared in her liver and is about 2.5 cm. Not what we wanted to hear. Other than that – Dr. Blumenschein reported that Diana really doesn’t have that much disease in her body. They saw some new spots but some old spots were gone. Pretty good news.

Dr. Blumenschein was concerned about Diana’s fatigue. It will affect her ability to receive future treatment unless she can gain strength back. Diana’s weight is now about 126 pounds. Her weight before cancer was 135. She peaked at 152 pounds – gaining weight while she was on steroids which she took last winter. The steroids made her ravenous and thus her weight gain. She was upset but Dr. Blumenschein was happy. He is not pleased with her current condition. So he scheduled Diana to see a Symptom Care Specialist. This makes Specialist Doctor number 10 that Diana has seen at MD Anderson. We met with him – Dr. Yennuralingam – if you can pronounce his name correctly you go to the head of the class – on Tuesday of this week. He examined Diana and has put her on a new drug – Ritalin. He is confident this will help. We see him again next Tuesday.

So – as we proceed through this month – Diana is phasing off of the steroids – reducing the dosage over a 2 week period. She was taking them during radiation treatment. Adding a new drug Ritalin. And we have several new drugs to assist with nausea. Diana is currently on ABH – a drug that is contributing to her fatigue but eliminates all of her nausea problems. Now that radiation is finally over, we are going to see if we can get her off of ABH. Every time we have tried to reduce the dosage of ABH in the past 2 months, the nausea returns. We have now been successful in reducing her dosage from 3 to 2 pills daily with no nausea symptoms. We will continue to lower the ABH dosages – hopefully without any nausea.

Finally – Dr. B has scheduled Diana for a new brain MRI and CT scan on Dec 4. We will see him on Dec 6. His goal is that Diana will be strong enough to start a new clinical trial at that time that should open in the next 2 weeks. It is a trial where they will perform a biopsy of the liver tumor and depending on the findings – they have 4 different targeted drugs (like Tarceva) that will be given to each patient. These are non toxic drugs unlike chemo. Diana would have a biopsy of the liver tumor and then would get one of the targeted drugs to take daily. Hopefully, the clinical trial will get final approval and open for patients. He has already submitted Diana for the preliminary list.

Lastly, I don’t have to wear a hat yet. Although Dr. Bucci said yesterday that I definitely will have to wear one in the next 7 – 10 days. Diana has been losing a small amount of hair when showering and combing – but….no hat yet. For two years Diana has lived under the expectation of losing her hair because of chemo. This is a case of mind over matter. Diana does not want to lose her hair and she hasn’t so far. She has beaten the odds with chemo, can she do the same with radiation. Stay tuned. As you all know – in case you don’t know I will tell you – Diana’s hair is very important to her. She does not want to lose her hair, but…

Thanks for prayers and support. Diana and I both really appreciate your efforts.

We celebrated Thanksgiving at home with Diana’s Mom. Ordered a precooked turkey and stuffing as well as a pumpkin pie from Luby’s – a Texas cafeteria style restaurant that also sells a ton of precooked turkeys and pies on Thanksgiving. I picked up the turkey, stuffing and pie Thursday morning at 9 AM along with the 100+ others who had ordered the same – we had to finish cooking the turkey for another 2+ hours once we got home. We cooked our own veggies and had a nice Thanksgiving dinner.

On Friday, Diana and I drove to Gruene (Pronounced Green) TX – about a 2 hour drive from our house in Katy – and spent 2 days in the Gruene area on a getaway vacation. It is a small German heritage village town and was all decorated for Christmas. We stayed at a great bed and breakfast – the bed and breakfast had a game room with shuffleboard and pool table – both of which we played and Diana beat me at both of them. I don’t know where she learned to shoot pool – it wasn’t from me. But I guess once you get the hang of it you never lose it.

This was the first time Diana was out of the house since the end of her radiation. Although she tired easily each day – we rested both afternoons and had a great time just puttering around the small village in the mornings. After breakfast on Sunday, we drove home. Diana would feel every small bump in the road in her bones. We were on an Interstate most of the way but there are still small bumps. As we walked around the village or went to eat, since we were both wearing hats no one was staring at Diana – they were looking at us – she did not mind going into public with a hat. Diana was really concerned that people would be staring at her. When we dressed her in her cowgirl outfit, tan coat, white crew neck sweater, jeans and cowboy hat – she got a ton of compliments. More than when her locks were flowing. That really pleased her. By the way, I never did receive a compliment for any of my hats or outfits.

Diana was still very fatigued once we arrived home and spent most of the week resting in our house. Finally on Sunday of this past week, she slowly started to get back some of her strength. She got up at 6 AM on both Monday and Tuesday and helped with breakfast. It was great to see her cooking in her new kitchen. She was enjoying herself. Great signs.

On Monday, we went to the MD-Anderson clinic for her X-ray, blood test, brain MRI and CT Scan, On Tuesday we had an appointment with a different doctor at the clinic who is helping with her fatigue. He was pleased with the progress Diana had made from our last visit him about 4 weeks ago.

Yesterday, on Wednesday, we met with Dr. Blumenschein to get the results of the Monday tests. Unfortunately, we did not get good news.

First, Diana’s lung and liver lesions both had small growth. This we expected since she has not had any treatment medication for those lesions since August. The lesion on the adrenalin gland remained the same size. However, the brain MRI showed five new lesions – four of them 1 millimeter in size and one 7 millimeters in diameter. All of them are very small but all are new and in an area of the brain that had not received radiation. Dr. B and the radiologists reviewed the old MRI’s to make sure the lesions had not been missed on an earlier MRI. However, there were none to be found on the old MRI’s. Needless to say we were devastated. For me, I assumed that the Leptomeningeal was now spreading. Boy was I upset. Diana accepted the facts and started quizzing on new treatment options. Man, she is mentally strong to accept what is and has happened to her. I love her so much and just wish I could do more.

MD-Anderson has a radiation process called Stereo Tactic Radio Therapy – which is a very targeted radiation process consisting of one application and the radiation is very pinpointed to brain lesions. The radiologists are meeting today and will review if Diana is a candidate for that therapy. Dr. Blumenschein does not think she will be a candidate for this treatment but will wait for the radiologists consensus decision.

Regardless, Dr. Blumenschein is going to have Diana take a total of 3 chemo treatments – one every 3 weeks starting on Dec 20 using the chemo drug Taxtare. There was an alternative therapy available whereby MD Anderson would infuse chemo directly into the brain but we all decided against it.

Until yesterday, we had planned on Diana starting a new clinical trial that had just opened in November and uses targeted drugs based on the DNA of your cancer cell. However, having a lesion on the brain makes Diana ineligible for that clinical trial and makes Taxtare chemotherapy the regimen of choice. Dr. B is delaying the start of the chemo for 2 weeks in order to give Diana time to regain more strength.

For the past several days, I go find a quiet spot in our house – usually the garage – where I can be myself and have cried my eyes out. The emotion and stress of the latest events happening to Diana are very tough for me to handle. Of course, I do not show any of this emotion in front of Diana. I just wish there something I could do to change the situation. I really do not want to believe this is all happening and has taken the turn it has.

Well, we both feel a little better today as we await the call from the radiologists. In the meantime – Again, thanks for your prayers and support. I have attached a little Christmas and thank you message from us. We wish we could personally deliver the message with a big hug to you all but….

We celebrated New Year’s Eve by going to The Galleria Mall in Houston. About a 25 minute car ride from our house in Katy. We walked through a few stores. Had our New Year’s Eve lunch at a restaurant in the mall and came home. Diana enjoyed being out amongst people. We went home and watched the celebrations on TV and went to bed early. At least we went out on New Year’s Eve. It was good exercise for Diana.

On Jan 10, Diana had her second treatment of Taxotere. We arrived at the clinic late morning for blood tests and an x-ray. Dr. Blumenschein was net and he gave Diana the green light for her second treatment. At Diana’s December 20 treatment, the nurse brought in all of these extra medicines – sort of scared me a little at the time. Once that nurse started the chemo infusion, she stayed with Diana for the first ten minutes – checking her vital signs every minute. I finally asked her what was she doing? This procedure had never occurred for any of Diana’s previous chemo treatments. The nurse told me that occasionally patients have a reaction to Taxotere and what she was doing was precautionary just in case. She told me it was the normal operating procedure they followed when administering Taxotere.

Back to January 10. Finally around 7 PM Diana was called for her chemo treatment. For this treatment the nurse did not bring in any extra medication. Diana had the IV inserted and started with saline and steroids at 7:30 PM. I asked the nurse what time would the chemo start? She told me at 8:05 PM. Since we had been at the clinic all day and had not eaten since lunch,I went downstairs to the cafeteria for some water and goodies at 7:50 PM for Diana to munch on once we were through with her treatment. I wanted to be back before the chemo started since the nurse on the previous treatment had made me a little scared of Taxotere. I returned to Diana’s room around 8 PM, five minutes before the chemo was to start. When I came back to the second floor area and approached the room Diana was in – I could see through the doorway that Diana’s face was as red as a beet and obviously she was very uncomfortable. She wasn’t communicating or moving. I raced to the central nursing station and grabbed a nurse. This nurse immediately stopped the chemo – put Diana on oxygen. Raced out and got some new medication. She started to infuse the drug benedryl to counteract the reaction. The nurse called the on call Doctor to Diana’s room. The doctor appeared very quickly. And they finally got Diana stabilized. Diana had had a reaction to the Taxotere. I found out later that when the second nurse got to Diana, Diana’s oxygen level in her blood was down to 90% – very low. The original nurse had started the chemo infusion automatically – ten minutes before she told me it was to start. And to make matters worse, she had gone home because of shift change and left Diana unattended for the start of the chemo infusion. I was both extremely grateful for the quick action the nurse that I found had taken extremely furious at the nurse who violated the hospital procedure for administration of Taxotere.

About 9:30 the nurse with the doctor in attendance deemed Diana as fully recovered and started the chemo Taxotere again. There were no problems this time as they slowed the rate of fluid into Diana’s blood system. We got home at midnight after arriving at the clinic at 11 AM. Diana felt fine. I was still shaking. I can still see the image of her red as a beet and unable to move or talk in my mind and it is three weeks later. I was very upset and would have been too emotional to speak to MD Anderson about the incident the following day, Thursday. So I waited until after the weekend – a few days had past and then called and reported the incident. I did receive a call from the nurse’s manager apologizing for the incident that should not have happened. Supposedly because of confidentiality laws, she would not tell me if any action was taken against the nurse. She did say the incident would not happen again in her department. I was quite disappointed at how my complaint was handled. I did not let Diana know that I was filing a complaint about her reaction to Taxotere. It would have been one more thing for her to worry about and she did not need to have that burden.

Diana has spent the best part of the two weeks after her treatment in bed. Last Friday January 26, Diana completed a new series of tests – CT Scan, MRI Brain, X-rays and blood tests. We spent the weekend home resting. Yesterday, January 31, we met with Dr. Blumenschein for the results of her tests.

Unfortunately, the news we received was not good. The tumors did not respond to the chemo Taxotere treatments. The tumors (3) in Diana’s liver grew by approximately 25% since early December – the time of her last CT Scan. The tumor in her lung had smaller growth – but it too had grown Diana was scheduled for another round of Taxotere chemo yesterday, but that was cancelled by Dr. Blumenschein. It is so depressing to go through all the pain and suffering associated with a series of chemo treatments only to find out that they did no good.

Dr. Blumenschein thinks that Diana is in too weak of a condition at the present time to continue with any treatment. We decided to not give her any treatment yesterday and give her an additional week of rest. He wants to see if the fatigue is related to the past chemo treatments. He wants to see if her physical condition improves this week. We are all hoping that her strength increases so she can proceed with some treatment. Diana is scheduled to see Dr. Blumenschein next Wednesday February 7. Dr. B. will recommend how we proceed at that time based upon seeing her physical condition.

Unfortunately, in Diana’s current physical condition she is not eligible for most clinical trials. Since clinical trials are attempting to get a drug approved, the sponsor wants patients that have the highest chance of success which rules out potential patients such as Diana who are in weakened conditions. There is a double whammy here. The chemo did no good cancer wise and it weakened Diana’s overall physical condition which rules out additional treatments until her condition strengthens. Plus time is lost. Bad, bad and more bad.

It is sad that cancer treatment decisions are so hit and miss. Doctors do not have sufficient information in selecting treatments for patients. It is all gut feel rather than detailed clinical data about the patient. I am an engineer by schooling and training. I guess my mind works differently. However, it has been pointed out to me many times, cancer research is being controlled primarily by the pharmaceutical companies who are searching for control medicines and not cures.

Needless to say but we are both devastated at the results of this weeks test results. Diana still wants to fight the disease. I am continuing to investigate alternative treatments. It is very obvious that Diana is too weak for any toxic medication which rules out any new chemotherapy. We have been tracking Diana’s weight and she is losing weight. She is not eating well. During the month of January, Diana lost about 4 pounds. She now weighs 121 pounds. We have been monitoring her weight every day and hope to stabilize it. Continuing weight loss is not a good sign.

Thanks for your prayers and support. We really appreciate your efforts.