Wednesday, August 11, 2010

So here's the short of it, 
There's disappointing news, but it's all about earlier good news.

And here's the long

Today I went to see Dr. Schlabach, my oncologist.  The appointment was great, and my labs showed that I'm all normal. I was very glad to see that I'm no longer anemic and my white counts are in the normal range.  I don't have to return for 4 more months.   I was eager to talk with him about the possibility of getting into the Clinical Trial for Lapatinib.  After I finished up with him, I went to speak with the research nurse, and there's the good news bad news.  I don't qualify to participate in the clinical trial.  The trial was intended to look at adjuvant treatment with Lapatinib - which means that it's used to prevent the cancer from returning, rather than teating a cancer that has already returned (metastasized).  When the study first opened I would have qualified, but it has now been closed to people who did NOT (this is the good news part) have any positive nodes.  The trial was to include both people who did and did not have positive nodes.  Apparently in the first phase of the trial, about 80% of the people who signed up did not have positive nodes.  I imagine that they felt a lot like me - thinking it might be extra insurance just in case one of those cancer cells got loose in the body and was hiding out somewhere waiting to grow again.    So right now, the trial is only open to people who DID have a positive node, to try to even out the numbers.  The research nurse has promised to be in touch with me if anything comes along that I would be eligible for.

So, in fact, all my treatments are over.  I'll just be in the routine of seeing my doctors on a rotating basis and having mammograms every 6 months to check out everything.   So that's all good news.  

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