No more Chemo...for now!

Mom had her CT scan last week and yesterday we went for her weekly chemo. We met with the nurse practicioner and she said that mom's cat scan looked really good. Her largest liver tumor went from 6 cm to 3 cm. Some of the lymphnode tumors shrunk 75%Initially, they mentioned that a 50% response would be wonderful, and that is what she got. Because of this great response, they decided to put her on an oral pill. This pill stops all of the estrogen in her body, so that the estrogen won't feed the tumors. The original plan was to do 4 rounds, but she responded so well they thought that 3 was enough. She will still go once a month to get a chemo drug for her bones, they say it's like Boniva. This shouldn't make her as sick and her hair should be able to grow back. Also when she goes once a month they will check her tumor markers to make sure that the pill is doing it's job.

The pill is called arimidex. The nurse explained that at some point the cancer will become resistant to the medication. She said the average time for this to happen is usually 8 to 15 months. She reminded us that this is just an average and it is different for everyone, it could work as long as 2 years. If or when this happens, they will decide from there what the next step will be. There are 12 different chemo regimens for her kind of cancer. If she stops responding, the social worker mentioned that there are options such as clinical trials in Texas and back east.

The nurse warned us that one of the side effects of this pill is mood swings. As hard as it is for me to imagine mom being real moody, I am the one that is with her every day so start praying for me too. Just Kidding! We are so grateful for this response that mom has had to the chemo, and glad that now she can start feeling a little better. Now we just need to pray that she will respond well to the pill and that it will keep her tumors small for as long as possible. She is a happy lady, and you would never know the battle she is fighting when talking to her. She is trying to stay positive and has amazing trust in the Lord! We love you mom!