A little good news perhaps!

We completed treatment #3 of 8 chemotherapies for this third line of treatment yesterday in Miami. The home infusion option was quickly denied by insurance after one visit and honestly I'm more comfortable to travel to Miami each week and keep close contact with Dr. Ardalan at this point. It is a one day treatment and doesn't require an overnight stay in the hospital.
We received a call from the Drs this morning at 0815-my first thought-oh no...but they called to give a some promising news that the tumor marker had dropped from 666 to 325 after 2 treatments. Normal is 3.0 so we have a LONG way to go but we are going down and this is a very good indicator that these drugs are working for Dennis.
Dennis has some new bad side effects from these drugs. A horrible red acne like rash on his face,neck,chest and back. We got 2 prescriptions yesterday that should help manage these side effects. He is still dealing with fatigue but he has amazing energy and a positive outlook. His hair is growing slowly back and is soft and very fine.
Please keep praying that #3 is a charm. It's been a LONG 6months and we need continued good news!

I'm in Week 2 of Plan "C". Blood markers
are much improved, the Chemo seems
to be working. Won't really know untill
pictures are taken of the cancer, but
this is a positive note: blood markers and
side effects are positve since I started "C".
#1 side effect of this
new Chemo is a bad case of
Acne and I've started the acne.
Now if I can only get the rest of a
the 'teen' problems I'll be happy.
The Next chemical loading is scheduled for
Thursday 13 Nov and is treatment #3.
I've 8 treaments, and that will leave
5 sessions to go. I'm tied to the
chemo sessions on Plan "C" and will
have to stay close to home untill
the program has run it's course.

Treatment #2 results

We received disappointing news today regarding our 2nd line of Chemotherapy. Dennis's CEA-tumor markers have been increasing and the scans verified that his liver disease is progressing. We will begin a new line of treatment tomorrow changing to Erbitux with CPT 11. It will be IV infused at home on a weekly basis for 8 weeks by a chemotherapy nurse. We will meet with Dr. Ardalan on November 13 for an review of this 3rd line of therapy. Dennis is discouraged but ready to resume the "attack" on cancer tomorrow. Once a Marine always a Marine.

Update on treatment

Sorry for the lack of updates but we really have nothing to report. We had treatment in Miami Sept 23-24 and Sept 30-Oct 1. We are on our "off week" and our next treatments are Oct 14-15 and Oct 21-22. I continue to press the Dr for information but they are unable to guesstimate progress until the next round of scans which will be done during the last week of October after these next chemotherapies. Luckily we seem to pass the initial screeing each week and Dennis is strong enough to withstand the chemo combination. His weight remains steady at 180. He seems to have more energy and has been walking,riding bikes and even cutting the grass again. No report of any pain which is also a good sign. So we wait and hope that we are making progress.
Our goal is to shrink the tumors in his liver enough that he can have his liver resectioned. They can remove up to 80% of the liver and amazingly it will regrow!
We are taking a respite and heading back to Wyoming Oct 7-12. We look forward to seeing Natalie and Brian,fall weather,the mountains and a football game.

Back again for Chemo resupply this
past Tue/Wed. Effects are cumulative
and boy do I feel lousy, today, Friday
and yesterday was no walk in the park.
My friend Bill Lamson is taking us to
FLL airport for run out to Laramie today
noon. New twist, I think I'm going
to lose all my hair. It is falling out
in clumps and has gotten so thin since
this Chemo stuff started. Oh well,
as long as the cancer cells die, any
thing is possible. This is a short
run to Wyo, only 5 days on the
ground. We'll attend the football
game Sat, Work at SML one day
and go shooting at the Laramie
range with Clyde and maybe some
army cadets. Then pack out to
palm beach for another session
of Chemo.
Dennis - MoreLater;

Cycle #2 of Chemotherapy

Treatment started off on a positive note with report of the CEA tumor marker dropping after cycle #1 from 304 to 180! Normal is below 3 so we have a way to go ...but we are going in the right direction! Tumor markers are one indication of how things are going. This has been our first real sign of good news in these past 4 months. We had treatment Sept 2/3 and will return Sept 9/10 for the second round of cycle #2. . We will have a rest Sept 11-22and will head to Wyoming to attend a football game see Natalie and Brian and have a long over due visit with Dennis's sister Becky,her husband Clyde and Dennis's mom. We hoping for some cool weather and a break from all these tropical storms and hurricanes!
We will have a scan early October-around the 10th after cycle #3 is completed and that will give more precise information on how the treatment is working and what adjustments need to be made. Dennis is tolerating the therapy well and maintaining his weight around 180.
Thank you for your many notes of encouragement and prayers.

Dennis says ;
We just got back from run out to Wyo
Both Nat and Brian checked into dorm
at UWyo. Worked a few days at SML
and then Back to Fla after watching
UWyo beat Ohio Bobcats 21 to 20.
Monday was get reorganized around
Boca Raton to include replacing
stolen license plate from the Jeep.
This Chemo Session
went well, although we had a 0830
appointment and saw the Dr. at 1100.
Seems they were very busy. Chemo
drugs got started and Tue/Wed
2-3Sept I got refilled with my dose
of Chemo. Out of the room about
7 pm and home by 8 pm. That
was a good day. The Chemo effects hit
last night and today (Fri 5th)
I've had the blah's all day.
Which is typical timing for
Chemo body reactions.

I go back for another dose
on Tue/Wed, 9 & 10 Sept.
Then I'm off 11 Sept to 22 Sept.
and We'll go out to Laramie
to See football game and Becky
)sister)is bringing mom up from
Colorado for a visit. So it
will be Clyde and I on visit
to SML on monday 15 Sept
and Tue 16 Sept we will go
to the range for a shoot.
w/M16/M14. RTB is to be
18 Sept Thursday.

Chemo after effects.
This set of chemo I'm
undergoing are not
as painful as the first
set. Still gets your
attention. I took
some pain medication to
get thru last night. Also
my hair is thinning out.
I used to get a hair cut
every 2 weeks for fast growing
and thick hair. I haven't had
a hair cut in 2 months and hair
is defiantly thinning out.
Oh well, anything to defeat
this cancer. Thanks to all
for the prayers, they're
working.

Dennis