Rough Patch

Becca has been getting worse since October 10, when she had another successful benefit for LMS at Julia Morgan Theater. She made it to Santa Monica to get the Yondelis (mentioned in her previous post) but she never got it because some enzyme in her liver wouldn't cooperate, so she had to return home the next day. The enzyme is still too high to go back down so she's tweaking the pain medication to see if that helps. She is also getting hydrated for a couple days at Alta Bates Cancer Center. Appetite is not great, and constipation is a constant problem. I wish I had better news to report.

There was a really good article that chronicles Becca's plight and her caring cancer community in the East Bay Monthly, just out on Tuesday. It includes good photos too. Check it out here:http://www.themonthly.com/feature1011.html

...and think good thoughts. She needs them. We need them.

Love,

Steve

Update

Life is not easy, no one every said it would be. These last weeks I have felt that the tumors were growing, I could feel shifts and changes in my back and pelvis. Given these feelings, I pushed my scan date up two weeks. The scan showed that the tumors have grown, argh. As you can imagine this was VERY depressing news as I was hoping to get some relief on Votrient.

My plan now is to do what they call a compasstionate care clinical trial (a drug called Yondelis) in Santa Monica which I will start in just under 3 weeks, not soon enough in my mind but a "flush out" period is need before I start the new drug.

I am trying to keep my head up and look on the bright side, which isn't easy. The "bright" side is the are no new tumors, nothing in vital organs other than the right kidney, and one only needs one kidney, right?

This is not fun.

Becca