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Friday, October 2nd, 2009

Susan G. Komen Race 2009 – Houston

The Susan G. Komen Race 2009 is tomorrow. I’ve been planning on attending, but when I woke up yesterday morning I had a sore throat, low grade fever (99.2) and swollen nodes in my throat. I got to feeling better and felt better today, but THEN the gal I was supposed to ride with had Both of her kids get ill this evening, and I don’t have a back-up ride. I can’t make the drive, long day and drive back alone, so looks like I’ll miss this. Plus with the weather being as it is – moist, rainy, hottish - I don’t need to be out in it with my immune system low (due to the meds).

I’ll be There In Spirit, but home working on my fundraiser (and other stuff I need to do…)

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO WILL WALK, WHO VOLUNTEERED AND WHO GAVE.

2009 Komen Houston Race for the Cure® website

Tags: Susan G. Komen

Posted in Events, hope | No Comments »

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

Test Results – Tumor Markers #5

My PCP‘s office just called with my lab results…

Last Friday (Sept 18 2009), I had the bloodwork drawn to track my tumor markers. It was draw #5. I’ve been having Very Good Results to-date…

So these are the results of the September 18 draw… this draw was for the monthly tests (most specifically my CEA Tumor Markers)…

On April 15, my baseline CEA tumor markers were 63.1 ng/mL (nanograms per milliliter). This is High, as Norm is 0.0 – 3.0 ng/mL. I honestly don’t know how high “really high” is, but – in my internet searching – I read one gal talk about the mid-200′s, so I guess my high is not That high, but It’s High To me.

On June 03, my 2nd draw CEA tumor markers were 35.9 ng/mL

On July 03, my 3rd draw CEA tumor markers were 12.8 ng/mL

On August 27, my 4th draw CEA turmor markers were 3.9 ng/mL

My CEA numbers from the September 18 draw are 3.3 ng/mL

3.3!! Still going down and Almost Normal!!

Norm is 0.0 – 3.0 ng/mL; levels higher than 3 ng/mL are not considered normal, But I Am Getting Close!!

The numbers are still dropping and I can’t help but be excited! I Still I wish I was confident with just how much this meant, but this (CEA: The Test) continues to answer Some of my questions…

Still hoping that this all means Something Good…

Please Please mean Something Good…

My Other Numbers as of Sept 18 2009 blood test results:

CA-125: 7 U/mL (Reference @ 0-35) – a 1 point INCREASE – up from 6 U/mL from August’s draw; 1 point is not much to fluctuate or to be a margin of error, so I’m not going to stress 1 point, since the August number was an 11 point drop from July’s draw.

CA 15-3: 17 U/mL (Reference @ <32) – a 1 point INCREASE – up from from 16 U/mL from August’s draw; again, I’m not going to stress 1 point since the August number was a 17 point drop from July’s draw.

CA 27.29 (see CA15-3 above): 19 U/mL (Reference @ <38) – a 9 point DECREASE – down from 28 U/mL from August’s draw!

I’m Really Pleased with the numbers!

This does NOT mean that the cancer is gone, but it DOES mean that I am responding to the treatment favorably! And we are Hopeful that the next PET / CT scan will show as much progress as the previous PET / CT scan!

Still visualizing my Dragons with their Riders,
Still visualizing my Dragons burning the cancer,
Burning the tumor,
Burning each evil cell
Into ash.

Burning Each Evil Cell.

Tags: Tumor Markers

Posted in Emotions, Gene Therapy Drugs, happiness, hope, Results, Tests | 9 Comments »

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

Roller Coaster

I’m Up
……….I’m Down
I’m Up
……….I’m Down
I’m Up…

Finally got an appointment with my PCP this afternoon, had a heart-to-heart with him and…

He wrote the reorders for my PAP meds! For my Tarceva, Zolinza, Zometa and Xeloda!

I can breath a little easier for a while cuz I don’t have to worry about coming up with the extra $1,500 “Medication Maintenance” for Burzynski Clinic to write the reorders, instead I can focus on other things I need to deal with.

I’m no longer bent over the barrel

I’m Up

I know there’ll be more to come
but for now
for now
for right now…

I can enjoy the coast.

Tags: Finances, Patient Assistance Programs, Tarceva, Xeloda, Zolinza, Zometa

Posted in appreciation, Dr. R. Taylor, Gene Therapy Drugs, Gene Therapy Regime, happiness, hope | 5 Comments »

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

Test Results – Tumor Markers #4

I COULDN’T WAIT TIL THIS EVENING TO POST THIS!!!

Last Friday, I had the bloodwork drawn to track my tumor markers. It was draw #4. I’ve been having Very Good Results…

I now have the results of the August 27 draw… this draw was for both the monthly tests (most specifically my CEA Tumor Markers) AND for the 3-month tests, which include my HER2 and EGFR Numbers…

On April 15, my baseline CEA tumor markers were 63.1 ng/mL (nanograms per milliliter)

On June 03, my 2nd draw CEA tumor markers were 35.9 ng/mL

On July 03, my 3rd draw CEA tumor markers were 12.8 ng/mL

My CEA numbers from the August 27 draw are 3.9 ng/mL

3-POINT-FREAKING-9!!!!!!

Norm is 0.0 – 3.0 ng/mL; levels higher than 3 ng/mL are not considered normal.

3.9 is Pretty Freaking Close To Normal!!

The numbers Just Keep Dropping! I can’t help but be excited!! Still I wish I was confident with just how much this meant, but this (CEA: The Test) has answered Some questions…

I’m Still hoping that this all means Something Good… Please mean Something Good…

My Other Numbers as of Aug 27 2009 blood test results:
CA-125: 6 U/mL (Reference @ 0-35) – an 11 point DECREASE – down from 15 U/mL from July’s draw
CA 15-3: 16 U/mL (Reference @ <32) – a 17 point DECREASE – down from 33 U/mL from July’s draw
CA 27.29 (see CA15-3 above): 28 U/mL (Reference @ <38) – a 12 point DECREASE – down from 40 U/mL from July’s draw

I’m thinking those numbers are looking Pretty Dang Good!

More Numbers from the tests I take every 3 months:
I’m not sure about what are good levels here, but this is what I’ve got…

EGFR (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor)
From August 2009 draw – 39
From April 2009 draw – 86
A drop of 47

HER2 (Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor)
From April 2009 draw – 2.8
From August 2009 draw – 8.0
An increase of 5.2, is this good…? I’m thinking an increase can’t be good… and such a large increase, more than double…? I DO know that I’m HER2 negative, and that’s a good thing to be. But can you go from negative to positive…? Would that increase be an indication?

Still vizualizing my Dragons with their light-saber wielding Riders!

Rich – I know that you’re a nurse…
Molli – you work for MD Anderson..
Either of y’all have any input / insight…?
PLEASE…?

What Is HER2, How Is It Tested, And Is It Tested On Invasive And Non-Invasive Breast Cancer?

Is your breast cancer HER2+? Further your understanding of HER2.

Read about HER2 and the importance of knowing the tumor’s HER2 status.

Tags: Sodium Phenylbutrate, Tarceva, Tumor Markers, Xeloda, Zolinza, Zometa

Posted in Emotions, excitement, happiness, hope, joy, Results, Tests | 35 Comments »

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

Mustard Seed Necklace

Finally got the pics of my Mustard Seed Necklace downloaded. I wear it everyday…

Hear that, Janna??

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Tags: Mustard Seed

Posted in Coping, hope, visualization | 2 Comments »

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

RESULTS! PET/CT #3 & Bone #1

Received the results of the PET/CT #3 and Bone Scan #1! I got them confirmed on Friday morning, but with the infusion and all, I’ve not had a chance to post them yet.

So… here we go… The “Overall” News Is Good! YAY!

FINDINGS:

(the tumor) “has diminished from 7.7 x 3.8 cm on the previous exam (April 16 2009) to the current measurements of 6.9 x 2.4 cm.“

That’s a decrease of .8 x 1.4 cm! (There are 2.54 centimeters in 1 inch…)

“FDG (fludeoxyglucose) activity has also diminished from previous peak SUV (standardized uptake value) of 4.8 to the current value 2.37.”

The FDG is the radioactive tracer that they inject for the PET/CT scan, the cancer attracts the FDG, and – from what I understand – the higher the SUV, the more cancer activity

Also…

“Size of the left axillary nodes extending to the subpectoral compartment have also diminished with no hypermetabolic FDG activity demonstrated presently…“

I was told that this means there is no longer activity in my lymph nodes!!!

Not all gone, but is Less!

The fight is Not over yet, not anywhere near finished, but it is LESS!!

For Now, it appears that it is not spreading, and that the activity has decreased… Decreased!!

Unfortunately, the bone scan did confirm the presence of “osteoblastic lesions” in the spine and sacrum which are “suspiciously related to early metastatic disease“… “ localized (on the spine) to the T9, L3, L4 and L5 in a pattern that is most likely produced by early metastatic disease“…

So… while the bone metastasis has not decreased, it has also not increased… so That is a good thing.

And Finally, there is a firm statement of arthritis… “there is evidence of degenerative arthritis in multiple joint areas” “in the feet in the tarsal areas and metatarsal joints, spine, shoulders and knees“…

I am still very much worried… I have won this small battle, but the war is not over… is far from over…

However, as I said, overall, Good Reports for now!

I am doing a (tentative) Happy Dance!

Posted in hope, joy, Results, Tests | 10 Comments »

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

ARTICLE: Drug Compound Kills Breast Cancer Stem Cells

This is AWESOME info!! Bring It On!!

Drug Compound Kills Breast Cancer Stem Cells

“CHICAGO (Reuters) – U.S. researchers have discovered a compound that can kill breast cancer stem cells, a kind of master cancer cell that resists conventional treatment and may explain why many cancers grow back, they reported on Thursday.

The discovery came using a new method of screening for drugs that specifically target and kill cancer stem cells, and it could be used to find drugs targeting other cancer stem cells as well, they said.

Many teams have been looking for ways to destroy these master cancer cells in hopes of making cancer easier to cure.

“There is a lot of evidence to suggest now that these cells are responsible for many of the recurrences that are observed after treatment has stopped,” Piyush Gupta of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Broad Institute, whose study appears in the journal Cell, said in a telephone interview on Thursday.

The problem is that cancer stem cells are rare and difficult to study in the lab because they quickly change into other types of cells. And they are hard to kill.

“It wasn’t clear it would be possible to find compounds that selectively kill cancer stem cells,” Gupta said in a statement. “That’s what we did.”

To study the cells, Gupta’s team first devised a method for stabilizing cancer stem cells in the lab and getting them to multiply. They then tested them against 16,000 natural and commercial chemical compounds to see which ones were able to kill the cancer stem cells specifically.

That turned up 32 contenders.

They narrowed down this list to a handful of chemicals, and tested these in the lab and in mice.

A chemical called salinomycin hit the target. It was 100 times more potent at killing breast cancer stem cells than Bristol-Myers Squibb Co’s cancer drug Taxol, or paclitaxel.

Cancer stem cells treated with salinomycin were far less able to start breast cancers when injected into mice than cancer stem cells treated by paclitaxel. And the treatment also appeared to slow the growth of tumors in the mice.

Gupta said it is not clear if salinomycin will emerge as the best drug compound for killing breast cancer stem cells — or that it will be safe to use in people with cancer.

But the study offers a new roadmap for drug companies to isolate and test compounds capable of killing the cells.

“We now have an approach that can be used very systematically to find such compounds,” he said.“

Tags: Salinomycin

Posted in Cancer, excitement, hope, New Discoveries, New Treatments | No Comments »

Monday, August 10th, 2009

PET/CT Scan #3 – Done

Did PET/CT Scan #3 today… the second one at Houston Medical Imaging. Had to hit the fund for $1,200.00…

It was a good experience; Zaki was the tech and he did a Great stick, I didn’t hardly feel a thing! He gave the infusion… again, I had to wait a period of time before testing began, I believe it was around an hour this time, and then the test commenced. That took another hour+. Overall, it was tiring…

PET Scan #2 was also done at Houston Medical Imaging, which gave results in a crisp, clear, and color, image.

PET Scan #1 was not such a good image, leaving the results with lots of questions, and recommendations.

I’m hoping
praying
for some good results.

Mom took photos, on her cell phone cuz I forgot the camera…

(Results HERE)

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Tags: Houston Medical Imaging, PET Scan, PET/CT Scan, scan

Posted in Burzynski Clinic, Cancer, frustration, hope, Tests | 6 Comments »

Sunday, August 9th, 2009

Mustard Seed Necklace

Recently, I wrote about stumbing upon the blog of a friend and how her faith was being tested by the prevelance of breast cancer Warriors in her life (5), and the small number of Survivors she has celebrated (1). She made the statement that she had less than a mustard seed of faith.

I knew then, that I had to get myself a mustard seed, had to get myself that faith that she was lacking!

I found what I was looking for on eBay. I like that there are Many seeds, I see each one as someone who has faith for me.

I’m awaiting it’s delivery…

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