Thank you!

THANKS SO SO MUCH to my wonderful family and amazing friends who have generously donated and will donate to the October 21st Lungevity walk. I can't wait to see and walk with everyone. We made it to our $5,000 goal! But that doesn't mean we should stop and become ambivalent. This should energize us! We're going to increase the goal to an ambitious $7,500! Please continue to spread the word. This means so much to me. I'm so incredibly touched by the support. I feel very honored to have such generous loving people in my life. The money raised will be used towards the very underfunded lung cancer research. Research that will benefit lung cancer patients, like myself. 

http://events.lungevity.org/site/TR?team_id=27440&pg=team&fr_id=3450&et=VH0HvERQyxlIkWzea3apKA&s_tafId=18190

MEETING POINT:

Battery Park

17 State Street (next to Battery Gardens Restaurant)

New York City, New York

SCHEDULE

This event will take place rain or shine!

Check-in/registration begins: 8:30 am

Team Photos: 9:00 am

Program: 10:00 am

3K Walk: 10:30 am

Closing ceremony: 12:00 noon

REGISTRATION FEES

Lung cancer survivor: $15

Adult: $25

Student (with valid ID): $15

Youth (13 years or younger): $10

Tarceva - Does it work?

My trial month with Tarceva is almost over. Tarceva targets a specific mutation on a specific gene location. I have a similar mutation, but on a different gene location, so the cancer may not be sensitive to the drug. I decided to try it anyway on the chance that the drug might work. It's been a nervous month for me. I did a non-medical self-evaluation in an attempt to determine if Tarceva was working. In the first two weeks, I continue to have aches and pains, sometimes more intense and in new places. The aches and pains have subsided some. I also had an episode where I saw light gray stripes, which makes me very anxious about the results of my brain scan. There have been inconclusive studies that the drug is working if the patient has face and skin rashes, which I have. After weighing the pros and cons, I was hopeful, but not that optimistic.

It turns out that my feeling was about right. My doctor told me that my CT scan results show that the lung tumors are stable, except for one, which grew. At first, I felt neutral about it. I was definitely glad that the cancer is mostly stable, but somewhat bummed that there was growth and no shrinkage. My doctor suggested that we monitor my progress again 3 weeks later of Tarceva. I'm still hoping for some shrinkage. Shrinkage is better than stable, but mostly stable is better than growth. So the news is not all bad.