Down, but not Out

Down, but not out. Friday, 19 Jun 09

We had a long meeting with Dr. Kit Fox, our surgeon, on Friday afternoon. Do only supremely confident people become surgeons, or does their training bring out that trait? The discussion was mostly the same as Thursday's, just a lot more positive in how it was said.

Although he was surprised and disappointed by this week’s MRI , Dr. Fox believes that recovery is still possible. He believes that, if necessary, he can safely remove most of the “high contrast” area around the initial surgery site. However, he does not think that may be necessary, or even useful, based on what we know today.

Although glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a rapidly growing, aggressive, cancer; it does not grow so fast that it is critical to do something immediately (unlike the initial surgery, which was needed to relieve pressure on the brain.) He feels like the “high contrast” area seen in the vicinity of the initial surgery is probably a combination of scar-like tissue and GBM.

The key to success is chemotherapy, not surgery. Surgery can never remove all of the cancer cells. Dr. Fox concurs with our oncologist and believes that the wisest approach is to continue with the previously planned Phase II Temodar chemo treatment and add an MRI on 15 July to see what changes have occurred in a month. If the area does not grow or even shrinks, we are on the right track. If it shows growth, we change the chemo treatment, most likely to Avastin. If Avastin does not control the tumor, we move on to other drugs and perhaps field trials of experimental dugs and procedures.

So, in short, we have options available and time to implement them.

The changes and options we are dealing with are difficult. We hope that the choices we deal with, whether from M.D. Anderson, Duke University, or any other university help us get a stronger handle on the disease and the future we are dealing with.

We’ll keep you posted. We love to hear from you. It gives us strength in our future.

Michele Kay

Michele Kay@aol.com