We actually managed to get seen at the James Cancer Hospital yesterday, and for once, it wasn’t completely un-productive. That may seem like a strange way to qualify the experience, so please allow me to fill you in!
Our visit was much more professional than previous visits were, which relieved some tension. They were still slow, but that’s at least it was within the realm of “normal”. The people were professional and addressed our concerns, answered our questions, and this time offered to provide further assistance. Some information was immediately illuminating.
The visit to the James didn’t provide a viable path, but did help us understand the paths available to us. Unfortunately, the information we gathered all but eliminated the path we were hoping for. It seems that a pretty typical exclusion for immunotherapy trials is the existence of an autoimmune disease. Karen has at least one, conclusively. Her medical history indicates there may be others. This is a Big Red Flag.
For any reader that doesn’t already know, she has antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, which makes her blood clot naturally. This is also something that excludes her from some exclusively homeopathic/holistic approaches to treating her cancer. Many of the homeopathic treatments insist upon the complete removal of western medicine, and for Karen, this results in death, rather quickly and painfully. There are some things that can go with chemo, such as good diet, Omega-3’s, etc., but so far it hasn’t been much help, except with treating symptoms. She had to recently stop taking Omega-3’s (which she’s taken for years) because it was suspected of contributing to one of her side-effects, and so far this theory seems to have been accurate. We’re still keeping an eye out, and our oncologist is supportive, but so far we haven’t found the right approach, for one reason or another.
Next week we have an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic. Even though they may not be able to get her into an immunotherapy trial either, there are other types of trials that look promising. One trial that the James has opening next month is one that tests for specific genetic abnormalities in the tumors (only expected to be applicable to 10%-15% of patients) which indicate they are treatable with a new generation of medications, not yet on the market. The Cleveland Clinic is expected to have others. Only a slim percentage of patients have these types of identifiable characteristics, and each trial tests for different ones, but that’s an intriguing option, and one that wouldn’t prevent conventional treatment while the two month testing process takes place.
Like always, we’re trying to size things up properly. We don’t want to confuse forward motion with progress, but we at least have a little clarity this week!
I’ll update more when I can! <3