The Wednesday before Thanksgiving I was down at MD Anderson and received an injection of radioactive isotopes. No superhuman powers, but I do believe the isotopes are doing their job. I am still on the pain medication, but I feel that my overall pain has decreased. There have been some side effects: mostly nausea, dizziness, and fatigue. Some of my fatigue can also probably be attributed to being close to anemic.
According to the stats, the average expectancy of pain relief from the isotopes is about 4 months, although there have been cases reported of it lasting over a year. I am hoping for the year route. It is a treatment that I can repeat down the road if the pain returns.
I also met with a researcher at MD Anderson regarding my potential participation in an upcoming clinical trial. They needed my permission to run some tests on my biopsy sample to see if I would qualify. The tests came back "uninformative," which means they need to do another biopsy they can run tests against. Apparently a very small percentage of people qualify for the clinical trial (3 to 4% of those tested), but those that do qualify, 80 to 90% have shown very encouraging results. So I have agreed to have another biopsy in hopes that I will be able to participate in the study. I have yet to hear back about when the biopsy will take place. Prayers about the upcoming biopsy and that I would qualify for the study would be greatly appreciated.
No comments:
Post a Comment