NEW TREATMENT PLAN

Dr. Homsi prescribed Votrient (pazopanib) to continue Irene’s cancer treatment today. Votrient is an oral medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in April of 2012 to treat patients with advanced soft tissue sarcoma who have previously received chemotherapy.

She will take four tablets once a day, two hours after eating anything and two hours before eating anything.  Votrient is a pill that works by interfering with the growth of new blood vessels needed for solid tumors to grow and survive. As with most medications, the side effects can be serious. Urine and heart tests were done today to provide a baseline from which to measure possible side effects.

 
Over the past few weeks the pain in her leg has increased, so new pain medication has been prescribed to keep her more comfortable.  Dr. Homsi wants the pain reducing meds in her system at a level that she will not be, in his words, “chasing the pain” with meds when needed.

This new medication will allow her hair to grow back, but very likely, it will be a different color. She is hoping it will be brunette. One drawback to this treatment is that she is not to eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice (not a big sacrifice).  This treatment does sound better at this stage than three long days per month in the infusion bay receiving chemotherapy.

Irene looks great and has the energy to do most things that she desires. We hope and pray that this treatment will arrest the growth of the tumors and that one day she will be cancer free.  Thank you so much for your continued love, interest and support.

More to come soon on our trip to Washington, DC to attend the burial of Irene's brother, Byron, with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

 

APPOINTMENT WITH DR. CALLISTER

I had an appointment today, February 18, with Dr. Matt Callister who is a radiation oncologist.  We originally became acquainted with Dr. Callister at the Mayo Clinic, then he became head of the radiation department at Banner M.D. Anderson.  He reviewed my records from Mayo which showed that I had five weeks of five days a week radiation therapy in 2010 before my second surgery.  He does not feel that more radiation at this time is a good idea, as it is not likely to cure the cancer.  He also said that often when they do a second round of radiation, they are disapponted in the results.  He doesn't feel that the lesion on my lung is serious enough to warrant radiation at this time.

 

We will go back to Dr. Homsi on February 27 to discuss the possibility of the oral medication that he told us about last week.

 

In the meantime, we are leaving tomorrow for Washington, D.C. to attend the burial of my brother, Byron, at Arlington Cemetery.  Byron passed away on January 4, and we were able to attend his funeral.  As there are so many veterans dying, there is a waiting period for the ceremony at Arlington.  He will receive full military honors at his burial this Thursday, February 21.  I will write about it and post pictures when we return. 

VISIT WITH DR. HOMSI

Following is what Daryl wrote to our family yesterday:
 

As you are aware, your mother had the usual CT scans and MRI yesterday, February 12, and we met with Dr. Homsi this morning to review the results. He informed us that the last two chemotherapy infusions with the two drug dosage are not controlling the continued growth of the tumors in her thigh. The lesion containing multiple nodules now measures 4.0 x 4.4 x 3.1 inches. Dr. Homsi recommended that we discontinue the current chemotherapy treatment as the cancer has become resistant to it, so no chemo was administered today. There is also a new 1/4 inch nodule in her lung that raises concern for metastatic involvement.
 

He discussed several future treatment options with us. The first option is to meet with Dr. Matthew Callister, Radiation Oncologist, who we know and has helped us at Mayo and is now at Banner MD Anderson. Dr. Callister will get the radiation records from Mayo and discuss possible treatment with radiation. We like Dr. Callister and are pleased that we will be seeing him. Another option would be with Pazopanib which is an oral anticancer medicine that is used to treat adults with kidney cancer.  It is also used to treat advanced soft tissue sarcoma (STS) in patients who have received cancer treatments.  Another option may be to see if she is eligible to join clinical trials at research facilities such as the University of Arizona in Tucson or other research facilities.

 

This is not the news we were hoping for, but your mom has a great attitude, and we are moving forward with faith.

We hope that you all have a very

"Happy Valentine's Day"

as we plan to!

 

 

 

 

FAMILY NEWS FOR THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED

We have had a lot of good things going on in our family for which we are so very grateful.  Our granddaughter, Kylee (Greg & Rebecca's daughter) left for the MTC last Wednesday, February 6.  She will leave for Morristown, New Jersey (Spanish) on Monday, February 18 as she knows Spanish quite well -- 12 days in the MTC.  She is very excited and has a great testimony to share with others.

Max Garn (Byron and Michelle's) received his Cub Scout Arrow of Light in a fun ceremony on January 24th.  We are proud of him.

We have a new great-grandson, West Wade McCann, born on January 9 to Jenny (Brad & Laura's) and Kelly.  He is a very cute baby, and they are all doing well. 

Our youngest son, Kevin, was made the Bishop of our Fairway Groves Ward on February 3.  He and Tara and their little family are a great blessing to us.  His first week he had New Beginnings, a funeral and ward conference, so he is right into it and in his mother's opinion, he did a great job.  He is very sweet and humble.

Josh Peterson, (Chuck and Gayla's) received his mission call to the Dominican Republic Santo Domingo West Mission.  He is coming home from BYU this weekend to go through the temple and will leave on May 9, two weeks after school is out.  They are all very excited as the Dominican Republic shares the island with Haiti which is where Chuck served. 

Hope I haven't missed anything.  I may add some pictures later.