Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!

Even in times of struggles, there are always things to be thankful for.

For the first time in three years, Hap’s tumors in the pelvic area have responded to treatment and have shown some measureable shrinkage. This is big news for the trial that Hap
is currently undergoing. The liver has shown no change; but as his doctor says, “No change is good”.

Unfortunately, Hap needs to skip this week of treatment because the toxicities in the liver are above the protocol levels. Hopefully, this will give his liver a chance to recover.

The news on the pelvic tumors came from last week’s CT scan, which measures tumor size. In two weeks Hap will have another octreoscan to measure the cancer uptake.
Based on the last octreoscan, there was activity in the pancreas; however there is nothing measureable in the pancreas on the CT scan.

Currently, Hap has lost over 25 pounds while in this trial and has been battling high blood pressure, nosebleeds, mouth sores and scalp sores.

Above all this, he continues to move forward and wants to thank everyone for all the support, cards, phone calls and continuous prayers. Hap realizes
he has great support that surrounds him on a daily basis and for that, he is “very grateful”.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011





Last Monday (10/24), Hap started the second cycle of the clinical trial. Good friend Jane Leach accompanied Hap and Mary. Good thing because Hap had four hours to wait for his chemo session. Concerns with his blood work and urine test held up the process. Haps Lipids were high as well as the proteins in the urine. After the “all clear” (6:30 P.M.!), Hap received 30 min. Of Avaston and 30 min. of Temsirolimus.

Yesterday (10/31) Hap returned to Sloan for his 6th trial treatment with good friend John, after a very rough weekend of mouth and gum soars, headaches and pain. Hap was scheduled for vitals and blood work and then follow up with treatment in the chemo suite, however, due to the condition of the mouth and gum sores and drastic weight loss in one week (10 lbs.) he had to meet with his main Oncologist, Dr. Kemeny. After her review, Dr. Kemeny decided to postpone treatments for this week to allow Hap’s mouth to heal, hence improving eating, hence improve his weight. Needless to say, Hap was VERY happy with her decision! This reprieve will allow Hap’s body to heal in general.