April 25, 2013
Update
On April 19 Dennis went in for his CT scan, with results on April 22. The Afinitor is not working. There is an increase in the size and number of lesions in the liver. An increase in lymph node involvement, along with an increase in bilateral pulmonary nodules. Certainly not the news we wanted. Dennis will be starting a new drug, Inlyta, in a few weeks. He will have a CT scan in mid July to see if the medicine is working.
April 13, 2013
Change...
A change was made to the list serve I use for kidney cancer information. Waaaah!!!
Oh well, it's a work in progress...
Update: I went back in the site again and I'm still not a fan of the new format. I know I need to give it a chance, but it was so much easier to just read it in my email. I'm looking forward to a daily digest to be implemented which would work much better for me. Hope they add that feature soon because I hate scrolling through stuff!
Oh well, it's a work in progress...
Update: I went back in the site again and I'm still not a fan of the new format. I know I need to give it a chance, but it was so much easier to just read it in my email. I'm looking forward to a daily digest to be implemented which would work much better for me. Hope they add that feature soon because I hate scrolling through stuff!
Blood Transfusion
It's been an interesting week...
Last Friday Dennis commented his chest was tight, and in his words "feels like vise grips". The nurse Onc told him to stop the Afinitor until she saw him on Monday. Her first comment, "you look really pale". The blood work showed Dennis' hemoglobin was 5.4, normal is 12. Tuesday he went in for a blood transfusion. He returned on Thursday and his hemoglobin was at 7.7. The nurse said 8 is the deciding factor, so he had another transfusion.
Dennis also had a MRI on Thursday to take a closer look at his spine. Unfortunately, he was unable to complete the contrast part of the MRI, but after the nurse took a quick look at the report she believes he was scanned long enough for the information they need. He has a CT scan on 4/19, so I'm pretty sure we will get the MRI results during his visit on 4/22.
I hate to assume, but with Dennis' increased pain, and a few other issues, I'm not too sure the Afinitor is working. Usually when I assume, I'm wrong. I hope this is the case.
Last Friday Dennis commented his chest was tight, and in his words "feels like vise grips". The nurse Onc told him to stop the Afinitor until she saw him on Monday. Her first comment, "you look really pale". The blood work showed Dennis' hemoglobin was 5.4, normal is 12. Tuesday he went in for a blood transfusion. He returned on Thursday and his hemoglobin was at 7.7. The nurse said 8 is the deciding factor, so he had another transfusion.
Dennis also had a MRI on Thursday to take a closer look at his spine. Unfortunately, he was unable to complete the contrast part of the MRI, but after the nurse took a quick look at the report she believes he was scanned long enough for the information they need. He has a CT scan on 4/19, so I'm pretty sure we will get the MRI results during his visit on 4/22.
I hate to assume, but with Dennis' increased pain, and a few other issues, I'm not too sure the Afinitor is working. Usually when I assume, I'm wrong. I hope this is the case.
February 2, 2013
Disease Progression
It's been a very long time since I've updated this blog. To be honest, I've been busy living life and not worrying too much about cancer. That changed on Monday when Dennis' scan showed progression. The cancer has now spread to his lymph nodes, liver, and there are new spots in his lungs. There is also a change to the soft tissue component of his left iliac wing lesion.
About three weeks ago Dennis had his morphine increased since the pain medication wasn't lasting 12 hours, and he was increasing his breakthrough meds, along with taking Aleves. After reviewing xrays and talking with the radiologist on Thursday, Dennis will start palliative radiation treatments next week in hopes of relieving the pain. He will also start a new cancer drug - Afinitor. As with any of these cancer drugs there are more than a handful of side effects to look out for. I believe the biggest one for Afinitor is a lung problem called noninfectious pneumonitis. We go back in 2 weeks for his checkup and his scans will be in about 8 weeks.
Now for some better news.
On October 27, 2012 we had our Coleman Classic Golf Tournament and raised $1900.00. The proceeds were donated to the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center for kidney cancer research. Once again, we are so thankful for our wonderful friends and family who help support this cause.
About three weeks ago Dennis had his morphine increased since the pain medication wasn't lasting 12 hours, and he was increasing his breakthrough meds, along with taking Aleves. After reviewing xrays and talking with the radiologist on Thursday, Dennis will start palliative radiation treatments next week in hopes of relieving the pain. He will also start a new cancer drug - Afinitor. As with any of these cancer drugs there are more than a handful of side effects to look out for. I believe the biggest one for Afinitor is a lung problem called noninfectious pneumonitis. We go back in 2 weeks for his checkup and his scans will be in about 8 weeks.
Now for some better news.
On October 27, 2012 we had our Coleman Classic Golf Tournament and raised $1900.00. The proceeds were donated to the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center for kidney cancer research. Once again, we are so thankful for our wonderful friends and family who help support this cause.
June 4, 2012
Time flies!!
Wow! I can't believe it's been almost three months since my last post!! It's amazing how fast time goes by. So much has happened in the last three months I don't know where to begin.
In April, for spring break, Haylee and I traveled to Florida to visit my grandma. We spent a few days at grandmas, and then drove down to Miami for a few days. Our first stop was Lincoln Road in South Beach. It was nice to check out the shops and people watch. Next we headed over to Bayside Marketplace and took a boat tour to see Millionaire's Row. The view of the financial district from the harbor is gorgeous, and I honestly enjoyed that more than the mansions. I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but we never stopped for Cuban food while in Miami. Oh well, next time!
April was also a time for prom dress and shoe shopping. Haylee was lucky enough to find a dress on her first shopping trip. She tried on the dress for size at the store, but ordered it on line since the ones in the store had snags and missing beads. Prom was on May 19, and everything went well. She had her hair done at 1:00, makeup at 2:30, and was ready for pictures by 5:00. Haylee looked stunning!
In April, for spring break, Haylee and I traveled to Florida to visit my grandma. We spent a few days at grandmas, and then drove down to Miami for a few days. Our first stop was Lincoln Road in South Beach. It was nice to check out the shops and people watch. Next we headed over to Bayside Marketplace and took a boat tour to see Millionaire's Row. The view of the financial district from the harbor is gorgeous, and I honestly enjoyed that more than the mansions. I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but we never stopped for Cuban food while in Miami. Oh well, next time!
April was also a time for prom dress and shoe shopping. Haylee was lucky enough to find a dress on her first shopping trip. She tried on the dress for size at the store, but ordered it on line since the ones in the store had snags and missing beads. Prom was on May 19, and everything went well. She had her hair done at 1:00, makeup at 2:30, and was ready for pictures by 5:00. Haylee looked stunning!
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| Haylee & Logan Prom 2012 |
Now for an update on Dennis. Scans were on May 23, and his nurse oncologist appointment on the 24. Dennis remains stable. He will continue taking Votrient, and have labs done on July 5th. There was a mention of a 7-mm nodule on his left adrenal that is too small to characterize. Not too happy to hear about something new popping up, but we'll just have to keep an eye on it.
And my final piece of news for today... On Memorial weekend I started to clean our boat. What a project!!!! The boat sat for a very long time, and had LOTS of moss growing on it. I'm happy to say I'm almost done scrubbing all 28 feet of our pontoon boat. If all goes well we should be on the water this weekend!
March 11, 2012
Good News!
Dennis remains stable! Back for labs in 6 weeks, and a CT scan in 3 months.
Life is good!
Life is good!
February 29, 2012
Honestly! We have enough to worry about!!!
I read an article today about counterfeit Avastin being distributed in the US. This is total BS!!
There are only 7 FDA approved Angiogenesis Inhibitor drugs for kidney cancer. Patients try the prescribed drug and have scans 2 or 3 months later to determine if the drug is effective. If there's shrinkage to the tumors, or they remain stable, the patient will continue on the drug. Once a drug stops working a new one will be prescribed, and the process starts all over again.
The last thing a cancer patient needs to worry about is whether their drug is a counterfeit, or not! How many people have taken this drug only to find out it didn't work? Was it because the drug was a counterfeit? I'm wondering how many people were affected by this since Avastin is used for other cancers, not just kidney cancer.
There are only 7 FDA approved Angiogenesis Inhibitor drugs for kidney cancer. Patients try the prescribed drug and have scans 2 or 3 months later to determine if the drug is effective. If there's shrinkage to the tumors, or they remain stable, the patient will continue on the drug. Once a drug stops working a new one will be prescribed, and the process starts all over again.
The last thing a cancer patient needs to worry about is whether their drug is a counterfeit, or not! How many people have taken this drug only to find out it didn't work? Was it because the drug was a counterfeit? I'm wondering how many people were affected by this since Avastin is used for other cancers, not just kidney cancer.
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