Here we go...

Like I said in my last post things can change very quickly, and so they have. We have decided to have Cleve's surgery done in Houston at the advice of our oncologist here in town, we also feel better about this decision since we already have formed a relationship with the doctors down there, specifically Dr. Hwu. We are, as we speak finalizing travel arrangements for the trip down next monday. Cleve will have his pre-operative appointment on tuesday, including a visit with Dr. Hwu, a blood panel and anesthesia clinic. Then, on wednesday Cleve will undergo surgery to finally have this horrible, life sucking tumor removed from under his arm. We anticipate about a weeks stay in Houston if all goes well and according to plan. Keep your fingers crossed!

Cleve has also resumed taking his medication. His liver functions test showed some slight improvement, but under Dr. Hwu's recommendation we began again at full strength immediately. Apparently she has had experiences in the past where a patient was taken off the medication for a two week period to allow the liver to recover, but the tumors exploded in number and she did not want this to happen to Cleve. It also sounded like Dr. Hwu may have a study that would be right up Cleve's alley, it sounds like a study that her husband, also Dr. Hwu, is conducting. That would be wonderful to get Cleve into another study since the one he was in just ended. If it turns out that he will not qualify, then Dr. Hamid in L.A. would still plan to put him on the B-RAF med plus ipilumimab. We still have options available to us. We'll just have to consider the fact that this medication didn't work as well as we had hoped, as a little bump in the road. We were hoping for the average of ten months out of this medication, instead we got under two before it started growing again. I will do my best to keep you updated next week as Cleve gets out of surgery and how he is doing. It should be entertaining since we all know what a lovely patient Cleve makes. Wish me luck!  Until next time....