News from Nashville

This is the first blog written from Nashville. I don't think it will make my writing any better. Sorry. I am also tired and a little grumpy so this one will be to the point. I will say that the drive to Nashville is a much prettier one than the drive to Houston. There are also many more interesting places to stop and visit and we have taken advantage of them so far. But as always we are ready to go home. We will leave in the morning and hopefully be back in our bed tomorrow night.

The visit today was good. We liked the Doctor and staff very much, feeling comfortable with each of them. It was good to get another perspective on where I am at with all of this. He basically agreed with the Doctor's at MD Anderson. He said left untreated I have would have about 6-9 months left. He also agreed that the new drug they are going to put me on is the best option we have at this point. As I have stated before the drug isn't FDA approved yet but can be given to compassion cases like me. There are a few hoops that we have to jump through before we can start the treatment. The biggest one being the drug company has to run test's on it's own of some of my tissue samples. That and the other few things that are required will take about a month. So hopefully we will be back here in a month to finish up the red tape and begin the medication. It is in pill form and is one I will take everyday. I have to come to Nashville once a month to get the medication and do testing. The one thing all of the Doctor's have made clear from the start is that this is not a cure. All of the patients who have been on it so far did well for a while but at some point the cancer came back and was usually worse. He did say that they are learning more every day about why that happens and are working on new medications. He told us this drug will hopefully extend my life until new medications are discovered that will work better. One of the good things is that the side effects are very minimal and should be much easier on me than chemo.

One of the concern's that we have had is that I am feeling worse as of late. I am having more and more days where I simply don't have it in me to do much. I am in more pain each day. We knew these day's would come. One of the things we like about this Doctor is that they are helping us address these issues. They spent a great amount of time talking with us and helping us formulate a plan to work on the pain and discomfort issues. The Doctor explained it to me this way. He said it is like my body is constantly on a treadmill fighting the cancer and it never takes a break. Basically my body never really gets any rest. He said the body can only do that for so long before it just gives out. So hopefully if this new chemo and other medications do their job my body will get a break for a while.

As always after these types of visits we are both wiped out. It continues to be an emotional roller coaster. I think the best way to describe us right now would be numb. There is so much going through my mind right now, along with several other things that have happened over the last week, I cannot even begin to put it all in words. We simply ask for your prayers. Hopefully tonight will bring rest and tomorrow will bring home!

Remember every day to put one foot in front of the other, drink a lot of water, and don't forget to breath...........