Update on Mom Aug. 29

Hello, All,

Thank you for your positive thoughts and prayers; they’re paying off. Mom had her initial two week follow up with her oncologist Dr. Martins today to check the progress of her new daily pill treatment. He says she looks great and everything is going as they would like for it to. Her blood labs are normal and he opined she is responding to the treatment. Symptomatically mom’s shortness of breath and nagging cough are improving. It is normal to expect it may take some time before these symptoms completely resolve.

There are a couple areas of concern. Her blood pressure is a little low, so Dr. Martins recommended she discontinue her blood pressure medication, which has more than managed what it was supposed to. More concerning is Mom dropped between 4-5 lbs. since she was last seen at SCCA a couple weeks ago; her appetite has decreased. Part of this has to do with the daily pill and subsequent changes she’s experiencing with her sense of taste and smell. Some foods that normally appealed to her don’t as much. Our immediate goal is to stay the course with treatment and work on maintaining or even adding back weight via a healthy diet.

Of course, as would be expected, living with terminal illness also takes a toll on one’s emotional health. Overall mom has a favorable outlook, and she’s so grateful for the care and treatment she’s receiving from SCCA as well as the support she’s been receiving from all of you. Even so there are times her spirits are a little dampened, understandably so. Regardless of health status, for emotional tides to ebb and flow is to be human. Some spells of depression could also be contributing to her loss of appetite. So we’re going to be working on her emotional health as well.

Mom’s oncologist gave us the OK to try her on medical cannabis, which has numerous benefits including stimulating appetite, easing pain/inflammation and possibly, positively enhancing mood. Some studies show a correlation between cannabis and reduction of cancer cells.

Mom has been staying with Terry and I in Normandy Park since Wednesday. It’s wonderful to have her with us. We’re making her eat well and we’re encouraging her to relax. I would love to see her engage in a daily meditation practice to help quiet her mind and calm her nerves.

A month from now mom returns to SCCA for updated scans. At that time her oncologist will have much more insight into what the cancer is doing. I’m optimistic it is retreating/shrinking, and the reduction in her symptoms points to this. Please continue with your positive thoughts and prayers.

Thank you all again so much for your support of mom. A special thank you to Sally and Robin Rosauer for hosting mom and Al since the end of July! They have been thoroughly enjoying visiting with such dear, long time friends.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

All my best,

Update on Mom Aug. 11

Hello, All:

I’m pleased to share good news with you. Mom has been informed she’s a candidate for a more effective treatment than chemotherapy. Her Seattle oncologist Dr. Martins is prescribing her a special daily pill which specifically targets and kills the cancerous cells in her body. There are very few known side effects which are minor in nature.

Once this treatment begins, mom will have a follow up two weeks later. A month following her initial follow up she’ll have another scan to monitor progress/effectiveness. Then it’s typically a follow up every two months for the foreseeable future.

To be clear, even if this treatment is successful in killing the cancer, it’s not a silver bullet (so-to-speak). This is not a cure. Even so, the chances of continued survival with a high/normal quality of life are very, very good using this approach.

Most importantly, mom is in outstanding spirits! She cried tears of joy when she received this positive news. I’ll keep you posted on how this treatment course progresses. Thank you for keeping us in your good thoughts. Please let me know if you have anything you would like me to relay, or if you have any questions.

All my best,

Update on Mom Aug. 04

Thank you all, again, for all your positive words, thoughts and prayers. Mom and Al are so grateful to you all as am I. I have encouraging news to share with you resulting from mom’s oncology appointment earlier today.

We met with Seattle Cancer Care Alliance’s (SCCA) Dr. Renato Martin. He has studied mom’s labs and agrees with the diagnosis of stage IV lung cancer, and that it is incurable. His expert medical opinion is this disease is treatable and manageable.

In fact, there are a couple specific mutations for which a daily pill treatment exists. The active ingredient in the pill targets only the cancer cells’ ability to replicate, which starves and ultimately kills the cancer with little if any side effect. The next step is to find out whether my mom is a candidate for this treatment. We expect to know more about this by early next week.

Alternately, mom may undergo chemotherapy treatment, specially designed for her type of cancer as well as for her physiology. Unlike most people’s perceptions of this treatment type, Dr. Martins assured us people undergoing this treatment have a normal/high quality of life, which is one of SCCA’s goals in treating cancer.

The two treatment courses are a little different. The first would begin in the immediate, followed by a consultation two weeks later, another a month after that and then a follow up every two months. The second would begin in the immediate and require follow ups every three weeks.

For those of you who aren’t as familiar, Seattle is at the forefront of cancer research and treatment. Specifically Fred Hutchison, which is a cooperative member of SCCA. I feel this is important to highlight as there is no better place in the world where my mom could receive better medical advice, care and treatment for this disease. After today, she also believes she is in the very best hands with Dr. Martins. He was straightforward with us, put everything in very comprehendible terms, is compassionate and most importantly gave us hope for the future. He has also personally already followed up on two items he promised us today. Highly unusual for any M.D.

The following link will take you to more info. about Dr. Martins: http://www.seattlecca.org/doctor/renato-g-martins.cfm

Mom feels so much better knowing there are options and most importantly this disease is treatable. As you can imagine she faced today’s appointment filled with dread, in part on account of a previous oncologist who said there was nothing that could be done. Today we are left feeling optimistic and hopeful. From my standpoint, this is best case scenario all things considered.

I’ve ordered mom and Al to relax today. It’s a gorgeous, summer day, nearly 90F with clear blue skies across the Seattle area. I know their first inclination was to want to keep everyone informed. So that’s what I’m here for to allow them space and time to decompress from all this.

Please let me know if you have any message for them or any deeper questions about today’s appointment, etc. Again, thank you all for your continued support. Anticipate another update once we know more, likely by early next week.

Sincerely,