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Posted by: Dan @ 5:36 pm
On Thursday (June 1) we met with Sandy’s local oncologist and she removed the 22 staples from Sandy’s incision site. It was relatively painless, though a few of the staples got her attention and she grabbed my hand and our friend Mary’s hand with a death grip as she winced. Immediately following the staple removal, our little friend Ben Nevis - all the way from Scotland - made an appearance (thanks Pat and Heather!) and made Sandy feel a bit better. I think the anticipation and fear of having the staples taken out was worse than the reality for her, as it was after her first surgery in October.
And of course the Gnome was there…
with Sandy’s oncologist on the left and her friend Mary (aka Thelma) on the right.
And more importantly we talked about the next round of chemo treatment for Sandy. She will be taking a drug called Tarceva every day. This is a cell growth inhibitor and is supposed to slow or stop the rapid cell growth of the brain tumor. The other drug she will be taking is called Cytoxan which breaks up the DNA of the fast growing cells. She will be on that drug for seven days, then off for seven, then back on. She will be on these drugs for at least the next two months, and longer if she tolerates them well and they are working. Both drugs are in pill form, so she can take them at home. Side effects vary widely, so we will see how she does with them. She starts the first round tomorrow, Sunday June 4. More on the chemo in the coming days as we learn more.
A big thank you to Lisa and her wine research assistant Amy for bringing us a wonderful home-cooked gourmet dinner last night. It was a fine evening out in the Garden of Friendship, sitting at our new table friends had recently bought us. And a big thank you to Susan for getting me out on the bike again today, for the first time in over a month. So LiveStrong Ride team members - watch out, I’m training again.
Good Night,
Dan