Hey Everyone,
Just wanted to send out a quick update to let everyone know what is going on. I realize it has been a while, but it has been another one of those situations where we were somewhat unsure of what the next step was going on be, so therefore it was hard to explain to everyone what is going on. I will try to be brief, since things are not definite, but it will give you an idea of what to be praying for.
I am officially no longer on the clinical trial. The medication caused my white blood cell count and platelet count to drop too low, and according to the trial protocol they could only hold the medication for 4 weeks, but it took longer than that for my body and blood levels to recover, so I am no longer eligible for that particular trial. I had a bone marrow biopsy a few weeks ago, to make sure that my marrow was ok, which thank God it was. There is no cancer in my bone marrow, and everything tested normal which is great news! It is normal for people to have blood count drops on medications like Sutent, but the doctors determined that given my past history of raidoactive iodine treatments, the toxicity of the medication was too much for my bone marrow to handle. My blood levels are finally back to normal, and I am feeling much better so now we are working on determining what is next. I will be having a full body CT scan soon to see if the medication had any effect for the short time I was on in, and to get a baseline for the next course of treatment. The plan is to either try a lower dose of Sutent, or another medication called Nexxavar which is a similar type of medication but maybe I will tolerate it better. One question we have to get answered is what medication my insurance company will cover, so that will also be a factor.
We met with Dr B and another doctor in the Oncology/Hematology department yesterday. In short she said that the most important thing is to treat the cancer, and if my blood levels drop again, there are different things that they can do to supplement me, and help my body deal with it. She does not want low blood counts to be a reason not to treat my cancer. I will just have to be conscious of the indicators that my levels are dropping, and have regular bloodwork, which I have done for 3 years. I also want to be sure that they other side effects I was having (nausea, fatigue, loss of appetite, ect) are controlled better this time so that I can try to live as normally as possible.
So that is where we are right now, CT scan and then determining which medication to try, and now that we know what happened with the first medication, we are more prepared to be ahead of side effects the second time around.
It was three years ago yesterday that I first heard the words "you have cancer". Of course I think it has been a much different ride than the doctors initially expected, since every sterotype of Thyroid cancer, I seem to experience the opposite. I continue to thank the Lord for the AMAZING husband he has given me, and the wonderful family and friends who have been there to support us. I cannot imagine going through this without all the wonderful support that I have had, and contiue to have.
I want to thank you all for your continued prayers, I know how powerful prayer can be!!
Take Care,
Hattie
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