Adelle,
This is very good news.  That extra time is will be a blessing.

m

Barukh attah Adonai eloheinu melekh ha-olam, hatov vehametiv

makes me tear-eyed to read, adelle. i'm so glad for your family.

diane

that IS good news!  "a bit more time" . . . and precious it is.  may
blessings abound.

kate

Hi, Everyone;

Great News - the experimental targeted chemo trial my Mom is in seems to be
helping!!!!! Most of the tumors stayed the same size. The few that grew did
so at a significantly slower rate than documented before.

[This is a ugly, rare cancer (spindle cell sarcoma) which responds to
conventional chemos only about 50% of the time at best. My Mom's oncologist
did not do chemo or radiation after the initial tumor was removed, because
she was node negative, so they figured it hadn't spread. Well, this cancer
travels in the bloodstream, not the lymph nodes. Being node negative didn't
mean anything. Then they missed the signs that said it was spreading (those
pancreatitis hospitalizations every seven months or so.)]

It also turns out Mom's significant pain is from her RA (understatement.
She's taking Dilaudid, oxycontin, Fentanyl patches and something which
dissolves under her lip) . She has gone without RA meds for almost a
year!!!!! They stopped it because the first chemo was systemic and would do
the same thing as the methotrexate and Kinneret. But she wasn't on that
long. Once they changed the chemo, she never asked her RD about going back
on treatment. She restarts pred today; that should help her pain levels.
Once the RA is back under better control, we should be able to gauge which
pain is RA and which is the cancer.

This is great news. We thought there was nothing left to be done and we were
going to lose her within a year. Now it seems Mom is going to get her
desire - a bit more time. And if we can get the RA under control and get the
pain down, it will be a bonus and a blessing!

Great news Adelle.  Thanks for sharing.

debbie m.

Oh Adelle - I am so so glad.  Things are looking up for you.  The news about
the dog was good too.  Now to hope everything else falls into place.

What a blessing!

Kelly

That is wonderful news, Adelle. I am thrilled to hear that your Mom's
chemo is working. I pray that she continues to reap the  benefits of
this new medication and continues to do well.
    Rose   @}>->--
    Being educated means that rather than fearing the unknown, one seeks to understand it. RB

    Please remove "Ima" to reply.

What joyous news!  May the pred help her RA so your Mom can enjoy the time
she now has to the utmost.

Adelle,

Good news about your mom chemo helping. Also good news she will start pred
for the RA.

(((Adelle)))

This is so awesome! May she continue to improve as much as possible, and
enjoy the time you all have left together.

Kelly C.