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,