Friday, May 4, 2012

Good news! Good news! I repeat, Good news!


actual microscopic image of my BRAF+
MEK being delivered at a cellular level
(my white blood cells wear body armor!)
I was just restaged last weeks after six weeks in the clinical trial on the combination targeted therapies of BRAF and MEK.  We knew the results would be good because all my palpable (fancy word for things you can feel with your fingers) tumors have gone away so there has definitely been some level of progress.  Now, I have not had any progress against the disease since I was diagnosed over a year ago.  None.  Every month or six-week interval has shown disease progression at varying rates, despite the very aggressive treatments we have tried.  These results from Moffitt would show for the first time that my level of disease has decreased, that I have become more healthy and less sick.  Level of disease can be measured by tumor load, and Moffitt adds the largest dimension of a select group of discrete, easily identifiable tumors.  For me, that's six tumors around my liver, in my lungs and upper torso.  When compared with the imaging study from the end of January, my tumor load has shrunk 61% in ten weeks!  The actual results are higher since the "before" imaging was when I was still on Temodar chemotherapy pills and before the significant cancer growth in February that almost did me in.  At that point, as the Marine saying goes, the enemy has us surrounded - and we have them just where we want them.  Then "boom"!
    Even better news was that my side effects from the targeted therapy have seemed to taper off at the lower dose (100mg instead of 150mg).  Now the side effects are minimal and I'm not at risk of being removed from the study.  And the rigor of my total treatment involves taking three pills in the morning and two in the evening and a day at Moffitt every month.  No wonder this combo therapy has become - as one doctor put it - the "phenom" in melanoma.  A low impact, quick acting, high response therapy for a disease that had almost no therapies with any one of those features.
     There is still the possibility the drugs will stop working at some point of course, but no one knows yet.  The good news is that the targeted therapies are coming on line as fast as the researchers can identify the specific genetic pathways that allow the cancer cells to regenerate.  As well, testing on combinations of targeted therapies with immunological therapies are just being started which promise to both knock-out cancer and keep it from coming back.  Its all very exciting and gives me hope of living a long and natural life, thanks to the miracles of science.  So hug someone in a lab coat today, and tell them thanks for me.
     While awesome news, we are trying to just live in the moment.  We are enjoying not having to deal with this on a daily basis.  I have some breathing room, some time, and I'm going to take full advantage of it.  We've restarted planning a summer vacation, I've committed to some new bike rides for the end of summer as I had to miss the ones I planned on this spring.  I'm setting goals and setting aside excuses.
     After holding the line for a year - my own little Battle of Britain - we've struck a mighty blow to cancer.  We've reduce it to less than half its former strength and the math for the next six weeks looks bad for cancer as well.  I am taking from it its ability to influence my daily life, relegating it to the far off battlefield.  And I have taken from it a renewed appreciation for these blue skies, for now void of black birds and storm clouds.
     Winning.

5 comments:

  1. Glad to hear the turnaround for you. You more than deserve some good news. Keep up the fight, as we know you will.

    Pam & Al

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  2. Keep the barrels warm. Will you sound ready to maintain the watch... and I know you will. ..the rally point is up the beach... we'll see you there!

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  3. Most prostate cancers are adenocarcinomas, cancers that arise in glandular cells of the prostate’s epithelial tissue. Prostate cancers usually progress slowly and produce no symptoms in the initial stages. Eventually, the tumor may enlarge like mine use too, the prostate gland, pressing on the urethra and causing painful or frequent urination and blood in the urine. So I was so uncomfortable with this prostate cancer diseases then I decided to do online search on how to cure cancer because I well have read a lot about herbal medicine, I came across a lot of testimony how Dr Itua cure HIV/herpes then Cancer was listed below the comment.with courage I contacted Dr Itua and he sent me his herbal medicine through Courier service then I was asked to pick it up at my post office which i quickly did. I contacted Dr Itua that i have received my herbal medicine so he instructs me on how to drink it for three weeks and that is how Dr Itua Herbal Medicine cure my prostate Cancer, The treatment takes three weeks and I was cured completely. Dr Itua is a god sent and I thank him every day of my life. Contact him now On:Email:drituaherbalcenter@gmail.com/   Whatsapp:+2348149277967.
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  4. Here is  my testimony on how I was cured of HIV by Dr Akhigbe,with his natural herbal medicine.  on a regular basis in efforts to help others when I could. As you may know, each donation is tested.  Well, on July 6th I had a meeting with a Red Cross representative and was told that I had HIV. “What went through your mind when you heard that "Rose" Good question reader! To be honest, I thought my life was over, that I would ever find love, get married, have children or anything normal. Lucky for me I have an amazing support system.  My family supported me then I never thought that I was invincible to STD s or pregnancy or anything else parents warn their kids about. I just didn’t think about it. I was in a monogamous relationship and thought that I asked the right questions.  We even talked about marriage Scary.  During that time I was in college and donated blood on a re as well. who helped me in search of cure through the media.there we saw a good testimony of sister 'Kate' about the good work of Dr Akhigbe natural herbal medicine cure.then I copied his email address and contacted him. A good herbalist doctor with a good heart, he is kind, loving and caring. He replied back to my message and told me what to do. After a week the doctor sent me my herbal medicine and instructed me how to take it.Yes it worked very well, after drinking it I went to the hospital for another test and everything turned negative. What a wonderful testimony I can never forget in my life. Dr Akhigbe is a man who gave me a life to live happily forever so all I want you all to believe and know that cure of HIV is real and herbs is a powerful medicine and it works and heals.  Dr Akhigbe also used his herbal medicine to cure diseases like:   HERPES, DIABETES, SCABIES, HEPATITIS A/B, STROKE, CANCER, ALS, TUBERCULOSIS, ASTHMA, PENIS ENLARGEMENT, MALARIA, LUPUS, LIVER CIRRHOSIS, DEPRESSION, HIV/AIDS, EPILEPSY, BACTERIAL, DIARRHEA, HEART DISEASES, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, PARKINSON'S, ALZHEIMER, COLD URTICARIA, HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS,INSOMNIA,  BACTERIAL VAGINOSIS, SCHIZOPHRENIA, JOINT PAIN, STOMACH PAIN, CHROME DISEASES, CHLAMYDIA, INSOMNIA HEARTBURN, ,  THYROID, MAR BURG DISEASES, MENINGITIS, ARTHRITIS, BODY WEAK, SMALLPOX, DENGUE, FEVER, CURBS, CHANCRE, AND OTHERS VARIOUS DISEASES/ VIRUS.   You are there and you find yourself in any of these situations, kindly contact Dr Akhigbe now to help you get rid of it. Here is his email address:
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      My appreciation is to share his testimony for the world to know the good work Dr Akhigbe has done for me and he will do the same for you.
       

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