Miracles and Wonders
Another setback
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In January 2008, Debbie's CA-125 value started to creep up again. This is always
worrisome since it could be an early indication of a recurrence. Her reading stayed
within the normal range for several months so her doctor's advice was simply to keep
watching it to see if it started a steady trend upward. Then in the middle of April her
latest reading was double the maximum of the normal range, so we scheduled an
immediate PET/CT scan to look for confirmation of a recurrence.
Unfortunately, this happened right before we were leaving for a vacation with family in
Las Vegas, and we didn't get the scan results before boarding the plane. The doctor's
office gave us an 800 number so we could call in for the results, but we decided not to
since it wouldn't help us to know when we were so far from home, but bad news could
definitely put a damper on a vacation. So we waited about 10 days to get the results
once we arrived back home, and the news was not good. The cancer was back again.
It was in the lymph nodes again just like the first recurrence, but it was a little more
spread out affecting more individual nodes. The good news was that there was still no
evidence that the cancer had spread to any of her organs, so even though it keeps
coming back it isn't really progressing.
Of course, this means more Chemotherapy and another hard decision to make about
which course of treatment to follow. Just as on the last recurrence we were offered the
option to enter a Phase II drug trial which offered a promising new therapy, but since it
was a randomized, double-blind study there was no guarantee that Deb would even
receive the study drug. Also, just like last time we weren't willing to take the risk. So
we opted to go with a combination of Cytoxan and Avastin. Interestingly, Avastin was
the study drug that we had turned down during her first recurrence because we didn't
want to risk receiving the placebo instead of the drug.
Deb started her first round of Chemo a few days ago on May 7th. The Cytoxan is taken
orally every day, and the Avastin is administered via IV infusion every two weeks. The
really good news is that so far the side effects of these drugs have been minimal. Deb is
able to continue her normal activities with very few changes. This is a tremendous
blessing since her last two experiences with Chemo had included side-effects that pretty
much ruined her quality of life for at least two weeks out of each three week cycle. We
were really concerned that she would not be able to handle it again, so we are thanking
God for the way this Chemo has started.
We will continue to update this site with her progress and I'm sure Deb will have some
additional insights to post in Inspiration Corner, but until then remember one of Deb's
favorite passages of scripture:
worrisome since it could be an early indication of a recurrence. Her reading stayed
within the normal range for several months so her doctor's advice was simply to keep
watching it to see if it started a steady trend upward. Then in the middle of April her
latest reading was double the maximum of the normal range, so we scheduled an
immediate PET/CT scan to look for confirmation of a recurrence.
Unfortunately, this happened right before we were leaving for a vacation with family in
Las Vegas, and we didn't get the scan results before boarding the plane. The doctor's
office gave us an 800 number so we could call in for the results, but we decided not to
since it wouldn't help us to know when we were so far from home, but bad news could
definitely put a damper on a vacation. So we waited about 10 days to get the results
once we arrived back home, and the news was not good. The cancer was back again.
It was in the lymph nodes again just like the first recurrence, but it was a little more
spread out affecting more individual nodes. The good news was that there was still no
evidence that the cancer had spread to any of her organs, so even though it keeps
coming back it isn't really progressing.
Of course, this means more Chemotherapy and another hard decision to make about
which course of treatment to follow. Just as on the last recurrence we were offered the
option to enter a Phase II drug trial which offered a promising new therapy, but since it
was a randomized, double-blind study there was no guarantee that Deb would even
receive the study drug. Also, just like last time we weren't willing to take the risk. So
we opted to go with a combination of Cytoxan and Avastin. Interestingly, Avastin was
the study drug that we had turned down during her first recurrence because we didn't
want to risk receiving the placebo instead of the drug.
Deb started her first round of Chemo a few days ago on May 7th. The Cytoxan is taken
orally every day, and the Avastin is administered via IV infusion every two weeks. The
really good news is that so far the side effects of these drugs have been minimal. Deb is
able to continue her normal activities with very few changes. This is a tremendous
blessing since her last two experiences with Chemo had included side-effects that pretty
much ruined her quality of life for at least two weeks out of each three week cycle. We
were really concerned that she would not be able to handle it again, so we are thanking
God for the way this Chemo has started.
We will continue to update this site with her progress and I'm sure Deb will have some
additional insights to post in Inspiration Corner, but until then remember one of Deb's
favorite passages of scripture:
- "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which
transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7 NIV