Hi friends, Michael and I went to Jefferson City yesterday and got my blood counts. It looks like all my counts are coming in line for this trial. It is such a miracle, but I know we are on the right path. My poor liver has been through a lot, but let's remember that the liver is resilient. It actually has stem cell functionality and can regenerate! Crazy.
Anyway, because they did most of my scans a little over two weeks ago, they have had to redo a couple of scans. This is just because the clinical trial is so stringent and everything must be within two weeks of admission into the trial. So, yesterday, Michael and I spent the bulk of the day in Jeff City getting a bone scan. The bone scan involves getting an injection and then having to wait for two hours for the scan. Then, I must tell you it is the most boring scan EVER! I had to lay still for over an hour and it is so hard for me to lay still. I am a ball of energy on most days, but I endured the scan and we headed back home.
The only other scan we need to redo is the heart scan. This scan can not be done on the same day as the bone scan because it also involves a radioactive injection. They basically take my blood and put a radioactive dye in and they let it set for about 30 minutes. Then, they put the blood back in me and take pictures of my heart as the blood flows back into my heart. WIld. I have had this scan done several times before and thankfully, my heart always does well for me.
The reason they do the heart scan is because Herceptin, which is one of the drugs on this trial, can be known to be toxic to the heart. So, anyone who has been on this medicine, has to have these scans. Because this trial involves a chemo-charged Herceptin, they need to make sure that my heart can take it. In general, my heart always operates above average in this regard. I am going to be thinking positive thoughts in this regard for Friday. I am not really nervous.
So, once we get this last scan in, they will submit all of my information to Genentech for their review. It is a rigid checklist of a multitude of health criteria, however, I hit most of these marks. These criteria include my general health as well as other drugs that I have already been through. I will keep you all posted, but I am assuming that we will start the medicine next week.
I am hoping that I can document this process via video so that we can put it on the blog and you all can actually 'see" what it is like to have these experiences (the clinics, the trials, etc). My hope is always to demystify the fear of this disease so that each of you will be unafraid to address any health issues you might have. Early detection and awareness do make a critical difference in prognosis and treatment...whether you are dealing with heart disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, etc.
Blessings to each of you!
Lolo
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment