A Painful Tube

Following our discussion with Dr Marniza, we were ushered to Radiology where Prof BJ was to do an ultrasound-guided procedure to extract the fluid from Fiona's right lung.  This is meant to provide relief from symptoms of breathlessness and coughing.

Ouch. Despite 2 rounds of local anaesthesia and a Pethadine (sp?) shot, Fiona still felt the pain as they inserted a tube into her back and into her lung, and attached a bag to collect the fluid.  Some 1.2 litres was drained.

She has come home now, with the bag by her side, in the hope that the remainder of the liquid in her lung will drain completely overnight.  The plan is then to perform a procedure tomorrow called "Pleurodesis" which means to stop the liquid from forming and accumulating.  We will go back to the hospital tomorrow at 2pm.

Please pray for a good rest for Fiona and no pain.

Taking a Break

Hi friends and praying pals.  Today was supposed to be a day of discussion with the doctor, to confirm if there was disease progression, and then to decide what to do next.

So the Oncologist, Dr Marniza Saad, did indeed confirm, in her professional opinion, that there was disease progression, and decided to therefore take Fiona off the study drug (Avastin) programme as it was apparently doing no further good.  We were then left to decide whether or not to start a new round of chemo.  Chemo is tough.  It kills the good cells and the bad.  Sort of a "scorched earth" approach.  So we've decided to take a break.  No chemo for the next 6 months.

During this duration, Fiona will return to a healthy regime of juicing, anti-oxidants, exercise, and de-tox, to allow her body to rest while rebuilding her immune system. We will also continue regular visits to the Oncologist, and have scheduled CT scans once every 3 months, to keep an eye on things. If there are signs of further progression, then we will revisit our decision.

On top of this, we are also considering seeking a second opinion, probably from Singapore. Does anyone know of a good Oncologist there?

Catching Up

Hi dear friends. We know you are keen to know what has been happening with Fiona, and there has been quite a bit happening indeed.

To bring you all up to speed, Fiona recently (April 2008) completed her 3rd round of Chemo (Xeloda + Avastin study drug). At that point, she was relatively symptomless, with no pain but with some breathlessness due to the liquid in her right lung. The plan then was to just continue with the study drug and to keep monitoring her condition. Day-to-day, Fiona was quite well and able to move around, and even working on a part-time/freelance basis for a couple of days a week.

However, about a week ago, she detected a new lump in her left breast. The question is: Is this new? Or just not previously detected?  The doctors need to revisit earlier scans to determine this.  The implications are real.  If this is new, then existing treatments must not be working and will be stopped.  A new round of chemo will likely ollow.  If this is not new, then existing treatments can continue for now.

We will be seeing the doctor again next Wednesday.  Your prayers would be most coveted.

Reboot

Hi all, dear friends, family members, fellow journeymen (and women) through this existence! As a family, we used to have a little blog on a private web domain. Was fun for a while, but we've decided to move to Blogspot. Saves us maintaining a website just for a blog, and these guys (who belong to Google, in case you did not know!) do a wonderful job for free. So here we have moved and shall remain for the foreseeable future. We will be moving our old posts here eventually, perhaps in some archive space, in case you want some sense of history. So cheerio, and see you soon!

Blue Skies

A commonly used saying is that "No News is Good News" and we are glad to report that good news is all we have had since our last update. We continue to give thanks to God that Fiona continues to be in good health.

Since our last update, Fiona underwent a few sessions of radiotherapy, not to directly address any presence of disease, but to prematurely induce a menopausal state. This is simply to eliminate a growth factor of the disease, which is more active in the presence of estrogens. We are thankful that Fiona went through the sessions easily and with little discomfort but we do ask for your prayers that she be spared the uncomfortable symptoms that come with the onset of menopause.

Fiona has also been for one checkup with Prof Liam, a respected Chest Specialist at UMMC. Based on a physical examination and a reading of the last CT scan, he echoed what other doctors have said recently, which is that Fiona is doing very well. As if to underscore this finding, he asked Fiona to return to see him again, but only in 4 months` time.

Moving ahead, at her next checkup at the UMMC chemo clinic, we expect that the doctors will recommend that she begin taking aromatase inhibitors, which will further surpress any production of estrogens in her body (for the same reasons as the recent radiotherapy sessions). Normal logic would dictate that she will experience even more severe symptoms than the average woman going through menopause, but we pray again that she will be spared these.

At the end of the day, we remain thankful for God`s amazing work of healing, and pray for His continued blessings for Fiona. All glory to Him!