Houston visit, March 2011

Ben went along with us on this trip, so we drove to Houston on Saturday, giving us all day Sunday to do other things. We slept in, then took the train downtown. Vicki had read about a couple parks that had activities so that's where we headed. We ate a Greek breakfast at the first park; very tasty! The second park had a farmer's market and vendors, including a beer garden. We wandered around the park, then Ben & I each had a beer while Vicki had wine. We just enjoyed the weather while we chatted and watched people and their dogs. We got to meet an Italian Greyhound that looked very much like Ben's dog, except he was much fatter. We wandered around downtown and checked out a couple stores before we headed back to the hotel.


On Monday, my appointments did not start until 3:00. We had lunch at the Spicy Pickle, then wandered around Rice Village before heading to MD Anderson for tests. It was after 8:00 pm when my tests were finished.

Tuesday morning we learned that there were mixed results from my CT scans; the tumors on my liver had shrunk, but the spots in my lungs had grown (not hugely, but enough to be definite). There is also a lymph node slightly enlarged that may be putting pressure on one of the ducts from the liver, which could be causing a slight rise in a couple liver enzymes. Another of the liver enzymes is normal. If this becomes a problem, they would probably put a stint in the duct.

We spoke with the PA first, and she seemed upbeat, optimistic, and talked of treatment options. Our doctor, on the other hand, seemed serious and only spoke of 2 treatment options. He is certain that since the lung spots had grown, the chemo is not working. There is an older chemo drug we could try, but the doctor only gave it a 5 to 10% chance of working. In his opinion, my best option is to get into a clinical trial. Our appointment to talk with the researchers is on April 4, so we will be heading back to Houston in three weeks. In the meantime, I am off chemo. In a few weeks, maybe I'll have hair again.

I don't know much about the clinical trials, but we would have to do them in Houston. Maybe that means staying in Houston for 6 to 8 weeks (we don't know) or maybe it means frequent trips to Houston, then home in between. We have more questions than answers.

One day at a time.

Joe