Encouraging News Before the Weekend

Just wanted to let all of you know that Judy's CA-125 decreased a tiny bit from 142 to 140 between her last regular chemo five weeks ago and this week's start of the new regimen.

We had expected the cancer markers to start soaring since the treatment seemed to have lost its punch and the interval was so long--a full five weeks. The fact that everything esssentially stayed stable is really encouraging to us.

Let's see what this new treatment is going to do and whether we can get a better hold on that damn old cancer.

Jürgen

Tuesday's Chemo OK

Just a quick update after the first of the new round of chemo treatments yesterday: It took about an hour and a half to administer the new meds, and Judy said that apart from a little queasiness for a short while she felt OK. Apparently, the pace of the chemo was a bit on the slower side than what she can expect in the future, just to make sure she was OK.

So, we'll see how this new approach is going to work out; next week Tuesday will be the next treatment. Of course, Judy is at work and doing everything that she has been doing pretty much ever since all these treatments started. This was her 16th chemo, and who knows how many more there will be. Let's hope that the third round proves to be the magic bullet.

Jürgen

New Chemo Delayed By One Week

Just in case you were wondering how the first of Judy's "mini" chemos came along this Tuesday, well, it didn't. The approval from the insurance did not come until Monday, too late for Dr. Phillips' office to order the drugs. So, the start of this new treatment has been postponed until next Tuesday. The good thing is that we have insurance approval.

Meanwhile, Judy keeps plugging along. I was in Switzerland and Germany for the past week and returned home just last night. It sure feels good to be back home and be with Judy!

Jürgen

A change in strategy

The CAT scan results are in, and it looks as if the cancer continues to rear its ugly head. Without going into too much detail (which, quite frankly, I don't have since we have not seen the report proper), the almost-two major rounds of chemo have not delivered the knock-out punch that we all had been looking for.

Thus, Dr. Phillips is changing his strategy and wants to go with another round of chemo; however, instead of delivering one massive treatment every three to four weeks (which especially in the first round hit the cancer hard but also kicked Judy's blood levels very, very significantly) he wants to administer a much smaller dosis on a weekly basis. The new schedule would be three weeks on, one week off, three weeks on, etc. Right now we're waiting for approval by the insurance since the overall cost appears to be even higher than the treatment so far. (All of you out there: Don't even think of going through life without health insurance! We'd be broke forever, without hope to ever dig ourselves out of the financial hole that such a diesease will dig for those without insurance.)

Most likely, Judy will have the first of these "mini" chemos next Tuesday. Let's see whether this is finally going to do it. If you're from the US, keep your fingers crossed, and if you're German, press the thumbs until they hurt!

Jürgen

A new kid-sized stent for Judy

Well, Judy just made it home from the hospital, and she's grinning because she received a "Junior stent." In this morning's procedure, Dr. Aronoff installed a smaller stent in her ureter than the first time around. She already is saying that it feels more comfortable than the first one. Maybe some of the discomfort with the first one had to do with the size. Anyhow, the doc said that the first stent did not show too much calcification, and this new one may last as long as 9 months. Now, that'd be a relief!

Lorane sat with Judy while I went through my teaching moves at Tech. I blew off my office hours, and when I arrived at the hospital a few minutes after 2 p.m. Judy was about to be discharged. And now, at 3:30 p.m., the two ladies are having a civilized cup of tea.



On a completely different note, our weekend was anything but relaxing. Friday night we worked the early registration for the Texas Tech Omnium bike race, and on Saturday we put in a 12-hour day with two different races. The photo (courtesy of Derek O.) shows Judy starting the time trial. Yep, those kids had built a real TT ramp! Tim R. is the holder, and Karen T. looks on. Judy felt like crap, coming down with some respiratory crap (which now seems to be hitting me). Sunday was another tough one with the wind blowing at times up to 25 to 30 mph, but it all came off OK. The Tech kids did a very, very nice job, and the WTCA volunteers who came out seemed to have fun, too.

So, let's hope that Judy will take well to the stent and that we can get some rest in the next few days.

Jürgen

Paris was a hoot with Mike and Candi

This post is long overdue, but there are always so many things that need to be done, and updating the blog sometimes has to take a backseat.

Monday evening Judy and I returned from a long weekend trip to Paris with Judy's brother, Mike, and his wife, Candi. The two had never been and had asked us whether we'd mind playing tour guides. Since we make almost annual pilgrimages to the French capital, we jumped on the opportunity to show them the city that we love so much. Last year it had been Emily who was our protegée, and this time it was the in-laws.


We had a truly great time. The Paris museum pass must be one of the greatest buys of all time, and we saw lots and lots of different things. The weather cooperated so that we were able to have our traditional picnic in the Luxembourg Gardens, and in the evenings we had some outstanding meals, courtesy of Mike and Candice.


Judy was in much better shape this year than last, when she had spent more than half the time in the hotel with a bad case of bronchitis. This year she was as spunky as ever, and her energy level was 200% higher than last year.

Unfortunately, these cool trips always end much too quickly, but we took with us great memories. I am sure that Mike and Candi won't forget this vacation for a long time.

The upcoming days will bring more medical stuff for Judy (next Tuesday the stent will be changed, and there will be another CAT scan) as well as a local road race this weekend: The Texas Tech Cycling Team will host a two-day stage race, and we will be the Chief Referee and Chief Judge.

A bientôt,

Jürgen

(A slightly belated) Happy Valentine's Day!

I meant to write this several days ago but time, once again, slipped away. We hope that you had as nice of a Valentine's weekend as we did. On Saturday night, Wayne, Lorane, Judy, and I had a beautifully relaxed prime rib dinner at our friends' house. See for yourselves how beautiful it all looked.



On Sunday, Judy and I had a little more celebration going, and we exchanged a few gifts. Here I had been married to her for 20+ years and had just found out that she really, REALLY wanted one of those heart-shaped Russell Stover candy arrays. For once, I came through!

On the medical front, things were a little less great. After enduring chemo #15 last Tuesday Judy learned on Thursday that her CA-125 once again is on the rise. Major bummer after the good news following the last few rounds of chemo. We are at the end of this chemo cycle, and we will see how Dr. Phillips will adjust the treatment.

This week will be an exciting one: On Wednesday we will meet up in DFW with Judy's brother Mike and sis-in-law Candice—and then continue together to Paris! Mike and Candi have never been, and we love to play tour guides. Last year, when we took Emily for her graduation trip to Paris, Judy had physically a lousy time, so she is really looking forward to being able to enjoy this trip much more. I will try to update the blog in the next few days, from Paris.

Jürgen