short update

Hi, all!
There isn't a whole lot to tell this time, so I'll make it short and give more info over the weekend.
The Sutent was affecting my protein levels in my urine, so I had to stop it for a week. I go back tomorrow for more blood tests to see if I can go back on the medication on Friday. In the meantime, I've had some pain in my hip, so I had an MRI today on that and this afternoon I 'm scheduled for a bone scan. We hope to find out the results by Friday.
On a happy front, Andrea and Chris come home today and then Tony and Beth on Friday. It's my niece, Eleanor's, wedding on Saturday and we're all super excited about it. Should be a fun weekend with family and friends.
Until next time......Love ya!! Linda

All went well!!!!

To all my wonderful family and friends:
Well, it's over and everything with the procedure went just perfectly, according to the technicians who were working with me. The mask did fit really tightly and at first I thought that I'd have trouble with that, but Idecided ahead of time how I was going to deal with it. All during the procedure I said prayers of thanks for the many people who are blessings in my life and how lucky I was to have their support at this time. I was not alone in that room. All of you were with me, and it helped immensely to know that. When the beams were going, I was thinking, "Kill that cancer!!" , but then I always got back to prayers of thanksgiving.
So thanks for helping me get through. It's going to be nice to have a few days of "no worries".
Love ya! Linda

We made it!

Well, we didn't have the direct flight that we thought we would. We had to make a stop in Myrtle Beach for refueling while the Thunderbirds finished practicing for the air show in Wilmington. But when we got here, the skies were sunny and it was wonderful to be back in Wilmington again.

We had three days of enjoying Andrea and Chris' company, relaxing, going to the beach, eating out, and generally feeling like we were on vacation. Our condo is still in great shape and we thoroughly enjoyed getting to use it again after a year and a half away. The two flights of stairs were a little challenging, but we minimized the number of trips so it wasn't too bad. We had a lot of good food, good weather, and good company. We even got to have lunch with Chris' parents overlooking the ocean.

We hate to leave, but we have to catch the 5:00 flight tonight and be ready for the stereotactic radiation surgery tomorrow morning. It's hard to believe that at this time tomorrow it will be over. Fortunately this trip has helped to relax me and keep my mind off the upcoming procedure. We'll try to write another update tomorrow to let you know how the procedure goes.

Could it get any busier?

It's Monday morning, and we are sitting at home after Tony and Beth's visit this weekend. Last week was a blur of new information and appointments. Tuesday morning we met with another Radiation Oncologist at University Pointe, who explained the Stereotactic Radiation procedure to us. This is the procedure that hopefully will kill the brain tumor in one treatment rather than 10 or more whole brain radiation treatments. In the afternoon we met with our regular oncologist, Dr. Bhandari. Since the tumors were growing again, he is concerned that Sutent might be losing its effectiveness already. He had talked to us last week on the phone about starting another form of treatment (Torisel), and we went to the appointment fully expecting to start on that. But since last week, Bhandari had talked on the phone with Dr. Atkins, the doctor whom we saw in Boston for the IL-2 treatments, who has treated a lot more cases of kidney cancer. He told Bhandari that his experience was that when Sutent becomes ineffective, the other treatments tend not to be as effective either. But he has had success in combining Sutent with another drug (Gemzar), which seems to help Sutent regain its effectiveness. The treatment is so new that Bhandari had not heard of it before, because they had not yet published the results. An hour later, Linda was getting an intravenous drip of Gemzar, which she will now get every week, in addition to the Sutent. Fortunately there were no additional side effects from this teatment, and Linda's energy level has been fairly high this past week. Bhandari said he will order CT scans in a month to see if this is working.

Friday we went back to University Pointe to get the mask made for the brain radiation procedure. They make a molded mask that fits over Linda's head, in order to hold it in the precise position necessary for the radiation procedure. Tomorrow morning we go for more imaging measurements in preparation of the procedure which is scheduled for next Tuesday the 22nd. Then off to Bhandari's office in the afternoon for another Gemzar treatment.

Fortunately we were able to work around all these appointments and plan a trip to Wilmington to visit Andrea and Chris this weekend. We're crossing our fingers and hoping our energy level stays up so we can make this trip. We have been very lucky to see the kids as often as we have. Tony and Beth came in last Thursday and stayed till Sunday night. Friday afternoon after the appointments, Linda, Tony and Beth went to Sharon Woods and got a chance to enjoy the beautiful spring weather before the it turned cold again. Just having them home provides comfort and support when we need it the most. Thanks for your continued prayers and support, and especially for your comments to the blog.


Love to you all,
Linda and Jim

Another Challlenge to Face

Hi, all! Linda here. I'm sitting here with Andrea who is home again this weekend for a visit. She picked a good weekend to come home because I needed the support.

At the beginning of the week I wasn't feeling well, even after the two units of blood I got last Friday. So Jim called Dr. Bahandari and he ordered another CAT scan and and a brain MRI, which I was able to get on Wednesday. Then Dr. Bahandri called us on Thursdy with the results. The tumors have grown a little and there is a new one in my brain. Fortunately it's only three millimeters. Dr. Bhandari got us an appointment with Dr. Summe, a radiation treatment specialist at Christ, on Friday. He said it could be treated with a single, directed beam, rather than a series of ten whole-brain radiation treatments, which is good news. After a few more consultations and measurements, I should get the treatment the week after next. It sounds scary, but everything should come out okay.

Dr. Summe prescribed some medications that have made me feel a little better over the past two days. I was able to go to our neighbors' house for a Final Four party last night and Jim, Andrea and I were actually the last to leave! Too bad North Carolina didn't win. Andrea and I also went out to breakfast and shopping with my friend Sue this morning and I was finally able to find some clothes that fit me.

Please keep praying for me over the next two weeks. I couldn't do it without your support. Love you all, Linda