Wednesday.....March 17th...2010

Seven days without laughter makes one weak......Mort Walker

Well, the news is good news.....as far as the Oncologist in Oregon is concerned.

Linda was "glued to her phone" this evening....we had friends over for a movie and the phone kept ringing with people wanting to know the scan results....and she hadn't had any news. When it came, the phone didn't ring...or...or...anyway there was a message from the Oncologist, saying:

It was a bit like comparing apples to oranges because the technician didn't compare the scan to past CT scans...even though he had them.....but the Oncologist, in reading past results and the new findings said he thought things were "stable" and he recommended continuing on the same therapy....he said he thought this was good news.

Tomorrow Linda is scheduled for an infusion session and it will be interesting to see what the Florida Oncologist says..he took the day off today so we will talk with him tomorrow .

Why is this good news?

Drugs used for a stage 4 cancer are not "good forever"......the cancer finds a way to "work around" the drug or chemo...then the Oncologist has to move to a different drug or chemo....Linda has been through some already and then has had to move to a different type when the cancer started to progress (spread as well as increased tumor size). The longer one can stay on a type of drug or chemo...the better...and Linda has been on Alimta for quite a while....and this is good.

Will she get "better"...not unless there is a new "miracle" drug out there......anything that keeps the cancer and/or its spread "stable" is a "win" and clearly the Oncologist report is a "win". Can we hope for this forever....yes .....but it will change.....when.....who knows.....later than sooner we hope....

For now we live with the positive....

A review:

What Is ALIMTA?

The scientific (or generic) name for ALIMTA is pemetrexed (for injection). ALIMTA is a chemotherapy drug used to treat certain kinds of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) called advanced nonsquamous NSCLC. When discussing NSCLC, "nonsquamous" includes adenocarcinoma, large cell carcinoma, and all other cell types except squamous cell.

Chemotherapy consists of treatment with one or more anticancer drugs that kill cancer cells. ALIMTA works by interfering with a crucial process that allows cancer cells to reproduce and spread. Specifically, ALIMTA works by inhibiting the action of 3 enzymes that are required to help the cancer grow.

Bottom line....it is a chemo that messes with the cancers' ability to reproduce and multiply ...the cancer is still there...it doesn't disappear..... but it is "held in check"....ie "stable"......and that is what the Doctors hope for.....