Blogging in B Minor

In a word, WOW.  If you’ve been reading my blog for some time, you know that we’ve had our share of not so positve news over the past few years.  We’ve learned to live each day (and are still learning) in the face of this disease.  However, this scan shows that the power of prayer, advances in experimental treatments and the tenacity of researchers, doctors and others in the medical field can yield results.

 I will cut to the chase first.  Here is a shot of what was on the monitor in clinic when we talked. 

From left to right, we have the March 30th scan (2 weeks post Gamma Knife), the May 7th scan and then Monday’s scan, July 20th.  Look at all of the enhancement in the first and second scans.  The second, however, does show some evidence that some cells are dying in the center of the tumor.  Monday’s scan, however, is amazing.  No edema, no mass effect, enhancement has significantly decreased and the profusion portion of the test which I will get to is equally telling.  Needless to say, I’m VERY pleased with this result.  We have not had a report showing a decrease at all since this started – only stable or further enhancement.  What we have done here is hammered this tumor with an army.  There is nothing more satisfying in this setting than to see this tumor get pummeled!

Now for some additional details:

Again, March, May then Monday’s scan.  What a blessing.  This tumor, a grade 4 GBM is dying off at this point in time.  That is the situation TODAY – but see my previous post.  Let’s stay grounded here.

Finally – a test that is very telling is called a Profusion Test.  In basic terms, it shows the blood flow in and out of a tumor.  It looks like a heat map.  High blood flow is shown by yellow/orange and red colors – the closer to red the higher the blood flow.  The more blood flow a tumor receives, the more it can grow.  Tumors depend on high blood flow.  If the blood flow is low or cut off, this can help kill a tumor.  Many chemotherapies for primary brain tumors focus on cutting off the blood supply.    The vaccine as you’ve attacks the malignant cells and kills them.

Check out the profusion image:

The circle on the left side surrounds my GBM.  Take note of the color and the legend on the left.  The profusion test shows DARK blue in the area of the tumor.  Another sign that my treatment is effective.

Finally, I decided this time I would just put the report up here so a) readers could see what an MRI report looks like if you haven’t seen one before and b) it’s easier to lay it out rather than repeat everything.  I just blocked out personal info.  What you should pay attention to is the “Findings” and particularly the “IMPRESSION” portion of the report.

It may be a little hard to read so my apoligies.  In summary this is great.  There is also no evidence of any grade 4 cells moving into any other areas of my brain.  I can’t pray or ask for anything better than this.  And, as always, I’m prepared for whatever comes my way.  It’s about today and I do the best I can to stay here.  I slip up – but TODAY is a good day and I have to thank God for this gift of healing.

 I will be taking 2 weeks off from Avastin.  I have been taking Avastin alone along with Thalamid.  I failed Avastin in the past – it just kept it stable but I had a recurrence in February that led to the vaccine and gamma knife in March.  I also failed Avastin + CPT-11.  Again, stability but no real progress.  I then started vaccine therapy (DCVax).  I believe these results are / can be attributed to DCVax.  I am also going to back off of Thalamid.  It makes me very tired and “loopy”.  It’s a slight risk but the next scan will tells us whether it’s been any factor at all in my treatment.  At the next scan we will have more info.  I had another series of vaccine shots yesterday so I will keep moving on.

I want to thank everyone who is praying.  This blog is my way of giving back and I can’t thank everyone enough for your continued prayers.  I’ve said that before and I hope everyone realizes that by praying for each other and creating a community of survivors, caregivers and friends who have this in common, we can find some sense of peace in sharing our stories.

I continue to urge you to use the comments section of posts to relate your experiences for everyone to see/read.  It’s helpful for everyone.

More to come….

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