Karen's Blog

The good news of the week is that Karen had her treatment Monday, and hasn’t experienced any side effects yet. That’s a huge relief. The doc said that few people experience sickness with this type of immunotherapy drug, but we were still apprehensive. I don’t really have much more to share right now, but know…

We finally have some news about the next medication. Also, our blog hosting company (Godaddy) fixed some problems with the blog that kept people from being able to comment or send mail. Sorry if you were having troubles! Karen’s doc at the Clinic managed to get insurance to approve Opdivo, which is an immunotherapy medication…

Hi all, I wanted to send a quick note to let you know we are still waiting on a decision about the next treatment options. Karen’s doc is trying to get Karen on an immunotherapy med even though it’s not approved for her type of cancer yet. He’s trying to convince insurance, and if that…

Karen’s been feeling icky since last week, but is on the mend. She’s not had a fever, so there isn’t a big concern. It’s just draining her already dwindled energy. Fortunately, she’s on the mend. She’s still exhausted, and has a bit of a cough, but the worst of it seems over. She’s feeling better just…

You know how the saying goes, “When life gives you lemons…” I like lemonade, but I’ve had about as much as I care to have. A lot has happened since our last post, but each time I try to make a post we’re only a day or two away from another answer. Or, in some…

The only thing we can do at this point is anticipate the next CT scan, and the answers it holds. Karen has been experiencing a little pain in her stomach, which makes us worried that the brief immunotherapy treatments might not have helped. In the mean time, she’s hanging out around the house. Her white…

The trial organizers have decided to stop the clinical trial for Karen. We’re not quite sure where that leaves us, but not all options are closed. Some may actually open for her, depending on her CT scan results in a couple weeks. If the CT scan shows that the cancer has been reduced, she’ll likely…

Last night went well for Karen from a queasy/chilly/achy perspective, because she didn’t have any of that, but she had a short period where her heart rate went up a bit. It was short lived, and of little concern in itself. The rest of the night we both slept soundly. Or, at least as soundly…

Karen felt better by morning, and has improved through the day. Her first appointment of the day was with a hematologist. Karen was diagnosed with Antiphospholipid Antibody Syndrome many years ago, and this diagnosis has been keeping her out of some treatment options. For due diligence, her oncologist would like this diagnosis confirmed. After that…

Today is a bit more rocky. We waited too long to take the Advil, and then couldn’t keep it down once she took some. So, she’s back to experiencing the chills and fever. At least we know that the Advil is the med that made the biggest difference for the fever and chills. There was…