Back at it

Update 2-1-12 8PM: Another bit of good news. The doc said Nina's LDH levels were greatly elevated this morning. She said that can mean that tumor tissue is breaking down. Nina asked her what her thoughts were, and the doc said she was "very optimistic". So I don't whether that was  just to put her at ease, but we'll take any words of encouragement we can get!

Update 1-31-12 10PM: We got some good news today when Dr Reier visited. A relatively new drug (FDA approved August 2011) called Brentuximab apparently has a very good track record at stomping out a specific marker (CD30) that is present in Nina's tumor. So the plan is to continue the current chemo ARA-C (1st round today, then 2nd on Thurs and 3rd on Saturday) and then start on the Brentuximab when she recovers from the current chemo.

Nina happy to be in her own bed even if just for the weekend.

Unfortunately things didn't go as planned last week. Nina DID get to go home on Thursday, but she is back at Alta Bates today (Monday). The PET scan she had just before she left last week showed that the tumor was only marginally reduced by the last chemo round. So Dr Kaplan (UCSF) has suggested yet another type of chemo called R-ICE. I'm pretty sure that's what it is. Nina texted me this info and she thought it was Arisee, but I couldn't find anything close to that. Will confirm tomorrow. (Edit: 1-31-12 Not R-ICE. It's ARA-C). Although Dr Kaplan is clearly involved, I think he doesn't see the need to go to SF when all this can be done here closer to home. Although I was on the fence about all this, I now think she is better off here with Dr Reier. She is extremely patient, warm and most importantly watching over Nina like a hawk. If anything is not taken care of, she gets a nurse to deal with it right away. She checks in with Nina sometimes twice a day and is never rushed.

This round will be for 3 days with a day in between each dose, so about a week of chemo, and my guess is 5-7 days after that to keep an eye on her. She is getting very tired of hospital life. I sometimes smuggle in treats and more palatable food and I think that helps. I asked to have a cot put in the room, and I'm going to spend every 2-3 days with her to help give her some sense of normalcy.

I would recommend that if you have the time sometime this week, go ahead and visit her. Of course, you should call her first (if you need her #, call me at 510-407-4442) and if you do go, keep the visit short. She gets tired very easily and she's just too polite to tell anyone.