Andre: Scan results + MTX 5

I want to start this update by thanking all of you for sending us your good thoughts on Thursday. The spiritual energy provided by you and by our visit to Amma gave us a welcome calmness last week.

On Tuesday (6/14) we drove to LA, because we were scheduled to have the methotrexate starting at 1:30 PM. These afternoon treatments don't work so well for us, because it is hard for us to get going in the morning, and then with some random traffic thrown in we were late for the appointment. Not exactly how one wants to start off, but at least we had the opportunity to see Mira off in the morning for her last week of school. We will probably try to leave the night before treatments, and have morning appointments, at least while Mira is on summer vacation.

The Tuesday went fine, after labs got back and premeds were administered, the MTX was given from 5-9PM. Radhika typically sleeps through most of that, and I catch up with my editorial work, since Cedars has a good wifi connection. When we got back to the LA apartment and had unloaded the car it was 10PM and we fell into bed. The next morning Radhika experienced some vomiting due to what is best described as motion sickness, but after she took her meds and got a few more hours of sleep, she felt much better. We had no problem getting to the nurse appointment for blood tests, and after that we drove down Santa Monica Blvd for fun. We thought we would get all the way to the ocean, but the traffic was so bad, that we stopped at a Westfield shopping mall and had a pleasant afternoon with a chocolate milkshake and early dinner instead. We were back at the apartment by 6PM, in time for her Leucovorin tablet, and an early bed time.

Thursday morning started off well, with us getting in on time for her 10:45AM CT scan. By 11:05AM we were in Forscher's office discussing the results, and were told that we could pretty much go home for the weekend right afterwards. The scan results were mostly good news: Radhika's one lung still looks as clear as it had before, and the one that had collapsed (until they removed the fluid in late March) remains open. Some of the tumor from that lung, as well as isolated spots on the other one, has calcified (i.e. turned into bone), which Forscher explained "is a reaction we see in osteosarcoma that is responsive to the chemo therapy." I figure that this must mean that in those places the cancer is dead. The cancer near the spine has shrunk somewhat, as we had expected from her very much improved sensation in the right arm.
So all in all, it hasn't grown anywhere, has shrunk in some places and died in others. Considering how dire things looked just 3 months ago that is definitely good news, and it makes sense to continue on the full course of 24 rounds since she is responding positively. Forscher also reiterated that because of the location surgery is not advisable, which is something that Radhika had not really wanted anyway, because of the trauma she went through in 2006. The bit of news that was hard for us was that Forscher hinted at a maintenance chemo drug that could be used after the 24 rounds: surgery to remove the primary tumor is essential to the standard treatment regimen, and it may have to be replaced by something else. Radhika had of course hoped to be declared "cancer free" by the end of the 24 rounds, but apparently it may not happen in that way. We left the discussion at that, since we learned that taking everything a day at a time is the best way to go. We still have quite a ways to go to until we finish the 24 rounds. There will be more scans along the way, and it makes little sense to focus our energy on speculation right now.

After this appointment I connected Radhika for 1000ml hydration and we went back to the apartment, so that Radhika could rest and I could pack up the car. The going was slow and on the way back home Radhika had the most nausea she has had in a while, probably due to recurrence of the motion sickness and feeling emotionally drained. Somehow we made it home by 4PM and Radhika went straight to bed for 2 hours. After 6PM we went to pick up Mira from her 3 fun packed days with the McDuffy family, and we all had dinner together at their house, during which Radhika seemed just fine.

On Friday we staid home and watched Star Wars IV for relaxation, because when she is physically down, the best things for Radhika are sleep and distraction. By the way we finished watching the animated Avatar series in LA this last week, and it really helped her since it is so entertainingly gripping. Next up for us is a 60+ hour long Korean drama series called "The great Queen Seondeok" that Radhika has grown quite fond of. Thanks to Marcia for getting the DVDs for us and to everybody who chipped in, because it will help us through the upcoming treatments.

Saturday I took Mira to gymnastics while field marshall Marcia spent time with Radhika. Radhika had a lot of stomach and emotional pain that day: chemo can chemically alter your emotions, and it attacks the fastest growing cells in the body, such as cancer, hair and stomach cells. I keep hoping that these side effects will become less pronounced as time goes on, but the time around the 4th day after the treatment can be more challenging than the actual treatment days. Sunday was a little better and Monday we had a really fun family outing with Mira and her friend Jillian to the Legoland waterpark.

Today we will do some stuff around the house, and pack since this evening we will go off to LA for Radhika's first Adriamycin+Cisplatin treatment tomorrow. Mira will spend the rest of the week with Bianca and Matthew and their extended family. Radhika is scheduled to spend Wednesday night in the hospital, but if things go well then we will be home again on Friday or Saturday. By some accounts this could be the most challenging round, but everybody has such widely differing experiences with these chemo drugs and we will just take it as it comes.

After this treatment we will have 2 weeks off, then MTX 6+7, then another 2 weeks off, followed by MTX 8+9. This puts us at the halfway point and into August, so that it seems like Mira's summer will not be interrupted too much by the treatments, and that we will be able to manage just by having "sleep overs" for her while she are away for MTX. I will post another update after this coming round.