good news

on the 09jul15 onc visit d and i were treated to some good news.  blood tumor markers were down slightly [first time in a long while] and the liver tumors which had grown a little a month ago, had now shrunk significantly [not quite 50%].  on the down side, there were a couple of questionable [meaning the radiologist was not certain they were cancerous] new tumor sights on the upper and lower spine.  we took the report as overall good news and a positive payoff for the pain and suffering which d has been through especially over the last several months.  we were also encouraged to believe the new chemo drug [abraxane] was doing its job, unlike the previous drug, xeloda, which had not done well and had significant side affects.  the onc suggested adding an additional chemo drug, carboplatin.  the two drugs have been shown to be more effective than either drug by itself.  we said "go".  so the first 4-week cycle of the lastest chemo drug combo is abraxane+carboplatin.

yesterday, 15jul, d gave her usual weekly blood sample and the results were again positive in that the tumor markers were again stable in one case and again down in the other case.  although repeatedly warned not to make to much of the marker numbers, there is general agreement that "down" is better than "up".  and given that we have seen a steady increase in one of the two markers over that last 36 months and four [i think] different chemo drugs,  we tend to take small pleasures whenever possible.

the chemo cycle is four weeks.  three weeks of chemo infusion, one week rest, repeat.  today is week two of the first 4-week cycle with abraxane+carboplatin.   there had been two cycles of abraxane solo prior to starting this new combo.

as always, we look ahead one day at a time.