PurpleStride and other news…

Just wanted to thank everyone that supported us on the PurpleStride in St Louis.  From what I gathered, enough money (over $100,000) was raised through this fundraiser to sponsor a research grant to help with the cure of this cancer.  We had a total of 29 official team members and raised $1,000 for the event.  The day turned out to be a beautiful fall day- perfect day to enjoy being outside with family and friends.  Dad was more tired than usual that day so he held down his chair at our “camp” and enjoyed seeing us come across the finish line.  I assume he entertained himself by “people watching” while his team was out on the course.  Once I gather all the photos from friends and family, I’ll post some team pictures taken throughout the day.

Dad had his routine scan on Friday to assess how the chemo is working.  He had his appointment to see the doctor and receive his treatment today.  When the doctor came in with additional people, my parents immediately knew that something was about to change.  Short story is that the gemzar (his chemo drug) has decided that it is done working in dad’s body.  The doctor explained that sometimes people become immune to the drugs and this has quite possibly happened.  The lesions on his liver have grown and additional spots have shown up on his lungs.  So, now the doctors have laid out another plan- actually two to be exact.  To start, the original biopsy will be tested for the type of cells.  If the makeup of the biopsy falls into a certain category, then he will enter into a trial study and begin taking a pill as opposed to the chemo route.  (This drug was not available when dad was first diagnosed in February.)  This trial medication will only work on a certain type of cell- which about 30% of pancreatic cancer contains this cell.  The results of the biopsy should come back in 5-10 business days.  If the cancer is not made up of this certain type of cell, he will begin another round of chemo but with another drug.  That appointment is already set up- 2 weeks from now- in case the trial is not an option.  Granted, we were all hoping (and assuming) that the scan would come back showing that the growth had remained the same as it had before.  The doctors reminded my parents that they are having success with dad’s treatment and that they had anticipated this change would have happened months sooner.  All in all, this wasn’t really the news we were wanting to hear, but it’s nice to know that the doctors have a plan (or two) in mind and are ready to conquer!

Please keep us in your prayers as we wait to see which treatment lies ahead of us.  Cards and phone calls are greatly appreciated- keep them coming, please!

jen.