So today was rough. We met with the doctor again to see about mom getting into a clinical trial at CTRC for lung cancer and to discuss treatment options. It was discouraging in that CTRC is limited in what they can offer and the clinical trial that the doc wanted her in is totally full. The good news is that he did encourage mom to seek out other clinical trials at other facilities. If anyone is curious how it works, the FDA approves different clinical trials for different institutions. So we may find a clinical trial somewhere else that we can get her in to. We are going to meet our doc again next week to see if there is anything we have found to get her in. He did say that because that one clinical trial he wanted her in was full, he did not think we should wait too too long before starting treatment again.
In the mean time I will be researching and calling all kinds of places to see what I can find. The doc said he would be happy to look over any trials I find and he will share his opinion if he thinks its right for her. It is important to mom that she gets his input. She likes him and is comfortable with him and that is important to all of us.
In todays meeting, I had suggested all kinds of chemo treatments that I have researched and discussed with other NSCL cancer patients, but he insisted that the best option for her at this point is still Tarceva. Tarceva is more of a maintenance chemo drug by itself. It does have some really good results in cancer patients especially those who are EGFR positive. Unfortunately mom is EGFR negative so it would probably not be quite as beneficial for her as it has shown for those who are EGFR positive. One thing everyone has to remember in all this is that each cancer affects each individual person differently and in knowing that each person reacts differently with each treatment. So just because some drug works one way for most and not others doesn't necessarily mean it won't do the same for those its not expected to work as well for. There have been many cases where Tarceva has done wonders for patients who were EGFR negative. Everyone is different. Needless to say our doctor is absolutely amazed at how well mom looks, feels, and is doing. She is staying strong.
It is difficult because there is no easy solution. We all just have cherish each moment with each other, forgive and accept each other, support and love one another, and know that God is with us.
Vanessa
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