"Cancer" is a word; not a sentence! ---1/24/2010

Last time, I told of the bad news we received from Robin's latest scans. The cancer spread quite a bit during Robin's "Vacation" from Chemo, so that more ribs are affected, there is new involvement in her pelvic bones, and worst of all that, "new metastatic disease is seen bilaterally in the chest." Specifically, Robin now has several cancerous nodules in the lower portions of both lungs. This spreading of cancer into "soft" tissues was the news we have been dreading.

Robin and I discussed this new development and decided that we needed to stimulate some thought with her oncologist about the next step to take. So Robin asked for and got an appointment on Wednesday to see the doctor. (We had to go to Texas City, of course, on Wednesday). We took copies of the printed radiologist's reports and a CD with the pictures from the bone scans and CT Scans. We discussed the results with her, and found that we interpreted them correctly. She did not appear to get too worked up about it, saying that she would have been more concerned if this happened while Robin was in Chemo therapy. (I was thinking, "She would be more concerned if it was HER lungs!") She said that the expansion was a trade-off for the surgical recovery. The doctor said that stage 4 cancer requires that we constantly beat it back with chemo, and now that Robin was healthy enough for chemo, we could get back to work. We asked whether one of the chemo treatments from Robin's past might be more effective, or if there was a different course that we should try. The doctor said that Robin's current treatment didn't really get a chance to show whether it was effective, but she would review past treatments (Robin's files are now over a foot thick), and call us later.

The doctor called us back late Thursday afternoon to tell us that she looked over Robin's files and considered other options and she believed that she had a good match for Robin's situation. The "Chemo Cocktail" is called "GemCarbo", from the two two drugs, Gemcitabine and Carboplatin. Normally, each GemCarbo treatment cycle takes 3 weeks. A usual course of treatment consists of 4 to 6 cycles making 3 to 4 months. On the first day of the cycle she will have gemcitabine and carboplatin. A week later she will get gemcitabine only. Then she has a two week break with no treatment before starting another cycle. See "Gemcitabine and GemCarbo" for more info.

Robin had one chemo almost three weeks ago, and was due to get chemo on Tuesday. Since the new regimin will require pre-approval, she may not get chemo on this Tuesday, but probably sometime this week. Generally, Robin is feeling pretty good. She still has the residual cough that follows respiratory infections. Because she seems incapable of coughing it up and out, I imagine she will have this cough for the next few weeks.

Please continue to pray for Robin. Pray for everyone suffering from cancer! We need you more than ever!!!

Our love to all,

                  --- Larry, Robin, & John

REMEMBER:
      "Cancer" is a word; not a sentence!

Back in the Fight, in Spite of Bad News --- 01/16/10

Well, it's a new year, even a new decade, so Robin decided to celebrate with a cocktail --- a Chemo Cocktail. Her wounds had closed up, so her Oncologist agreed that it was time to get back in the fight. On Tuesday, January 5th, Robin started back on the same Chemo she had been using many months ago. But we may have celebrated too soon! On the 12th, Robin had new scans done---the first in four months. We got the reports on Thursday, and we were very disappointed. Based on our understanding of the reports, the cancer spread quite a bit during Robin's "Vacation" from Chemo. She now has lesions in many more bones. More ribs are affected, and there is new involvement in her pelvic bones. If this was not enough, even more alarming is the report that, "new metastatic disease is seen bilaterally in the chest." It goes on to describe several cancerous nodules in the lower portions of both lungs. Cancer moves slowly in the bones, but once in soft tissues, it can advance quickly. I am not a doctor (Robin reminds me of this fact frequently), and we have not seen Robin's oncologist yet, but I think we understand the fight is different now.

For the last few months, Robin has been feeling pretty well, overall. Mostly, that's because of the vacation from chemo treatments. Since the chemo slows or kills fast-growing cells, chemo would not permit her surgical wounds to heal. Between the last surgery and her previous surgery, she has had only two chemo treatments in the last seven months. The bad news was that while Robin was on vacation, the cancer was not. Robin's oncologist was been seeing Robin regularly, and monitoring the wound progress. In a strange way, Robin was looking forward to getting back into the fight.

Just before the Chemo, Robin and I were stricken by nasty sinus, then upper respiratory, infections. Since there was no fever and her blood levels were all good, so this did not stop the chemo treatment, although it did make the side effects a little worse, I believe. She is now over the chemo treatment symptoms and the infection is gone, but we both have the residual cough that follows respiratory infections. I imagine we will be dealing with the cough for the next few weeks, based on past experience.

We had a pleasant Christmas this year. John arrived on Christmas Eve, but had to be back to work on December 26th, so we didn't get to see him much. Robin wanted to go to Midnight Mass, and so we managed to get her there. Christmas morning, Robin woke to discover that her right eye had bled again. Her eyesight was getting pretty good before that point, but after the bleed, she was back to square one. She couldn't even make out faces. This didn't hamper our celebration of Christmas though. As has become our family tradition, after Irish Coffee and opening presents, we celebrated Christmas dinner at the Couvillion's house.

John's 23rd birthday was January 11th, and he managed to get home for a few days before it. How time passes!!! We had a great visit. Due to the icy conditions, he was inclined to stay indoors and spend some time with us. John enjoys cooking, so we gave him some good knives and cutting boards to encourage his efforts. He is now back in College Station, working for Sears, and working on his fifth year of college.

Thank you to all who sent us cards, thoughts, and prayers throughout the Christmas season. In light of the new scan results, we need to ask everyone to keep praying for Robin. She intends to keep fighting the cancer, and thanking God for each new day. Pray for everyone suffering from this brutal disease!

Don’t quit now. We need you more than ever!!!

Our love to all,

                  --- Larry, Robin, & John