Good News....Chemo Round 19

     We are considering todays news as good news.  The best we could hope for is for Mark to continue to do rounds of Ifosfomide.  And he will.  The chemo is working on most of his tumors and we will continue with at least two more rounds of this.  Even when this drug stops working there are a couple more chemo regiments to try although they don't have the same success rates as the ones we've already used.  We have definately "bought" time.

     Our good news always seems peppered with some bad news, and I'll share that too.  There are two new lesions in the bone, one in another rib, and one in his pelvis.  There are no plans to radiate but they will discuss options at the monthly sarcoma meeting.  While it is true that most tumors are shrinking, there are 'several' tumors slightly growing.  I don't like reading the report and seeing phrases like 'worsening metastases', and 'new septal lines in the upper lung zones' (fluid and inflamation).  No one knows exactly how many tumors Mark has, but the number is somewhere around 18.  Today we start round 19 of chemo, that seems like such a high number.  When we started chemo, more than one doctor told us we'd probably do "4 or 5 rounds".  Hard to believe we're at 19.  The largest tumor is in the primary site (left hip) and is 4.5 cm.  The largest lung tumor is 3 cm.

     So, here we sit at the Huntsman Infusion Center with the cute nurses wearing holiday earrings and light up santa hats. Somehow it does make this experience a little better.