Clinical Trial - May 13th & 14th 2009

It has been a while since I've posted anything new about my health. That is actually a good thing. I'll give an update of what I'm doing now:

Daily: I take Femara (estrogen blocker for post menopausal women)

Every 3 weeks: IV of Herceptin (Herceptin works by attaching itself to the HER2 receptors on the surface of breast cancer cells and blocking them from receiving growth signals. By blocking the signals, Herceptin can slow or stop the growth of the breast cancer. Herceptin is an example of an immune targeted therapy. In addition to blocking HER2 receptors, Herceptin can also help fight breast cancer by alerting the immune system to destroy cancer cells onto which it is attached.)
Every 4 weeks: IV of Zometa (ZOMETA is not chemotherapy. ZOMETA belongs to a class of drugs called bisphosphonates that are used to reduce or delay complications from bone metastases or bone lesions from multiple myeloma. These drugs reduce the wearing away of bone and slow the abnormal buildup of unstable bone.)

Last week I received a phone call from the research coordinator at Utah Cancer who asked if I'd like to participate in a clinical trial. He explained that it deals with Zometa which I'm already taking. Currently the FDA has approved Zometa for 1 year following being diagnosed with bone metastasis. Usually if the insurance will agree to keep paying for it, the patient can still receive the drugs, but their is no research that proves that it continues to work past a year. I agreed to participate with a 66 % chance of receiving the drug and a 33% of receiving a placebo. However, every 12 weeks everyone receives Zometa. Also, you agree to a bone scan every 12 weeks and a bone survey (14 x-rays of all your bones) and a full dental exam to make sure the Zometa hasn't cause any problems with the jaw bone. (this is a rare side affect of the drug). Last Wednesday I received Herceptin and met with my doctor to discuss the study. My only hesitation was that I was looking foward to a "normal" summer at least until July when I am scheduled for a PET scan again. I can't explain how great my life is right now. I was just worried about what these bone scans and x-rays might show. He understood and said the good thing about additional scans is that if another recurrence is caught sooner they could zap it faster. I agreed reluctantly.

Last Thursday, I spent all day at St. Mark's Hospital. I went to radiology and received a radioactive injection that needed to be in my system for 4 hours. Following the injection I went to X-ray and had a full bone survey. It took about a half hour to take 14 x-rays of my entire body. I then had two hours to burn and I went and took care of grandma Betty. At 1 pm I went back to St. Marks and did a bone scan. I had to lay down in my gown and was positioned on the table. They put my arms in a sling, my head tilted one direction, and my knees bound together and my toes rubber banded together. It then had a machine move right next to my face and slowly over 26 minutes move from my skull down to my toes. It was all going good until the nice soft music began playing Pacabel Cannon. Yikes. This was the song that I began walking down the isle to when Travis and I got married almost 17 years ago. Tears started rolling down my cheeks and I pictured two young kids so in love starting our life together. I am still so in love with him. The next song that played was the "Wedding Song." I couldn't believe it. We had this song play at our wedding too! Now I wasn't just crying quietly. My torso was shaking. As I was having this memories, I tried to keep as still as possible, but my stomach kept doing the "I wish I wasn't crying" crunches and the tech came over. He asked me if I was all right. I said yes, but that I got married while these songs played. He offered to shut off the music, but the song had just finished. I laid there for 7 more minutes reflecting of my wonderful life and my wonderful husband and children.

Following the bone scan, I headed to the dentist and had a full panel on my mouth. The dentist looked my mouth and gave it a thumbs up. I then headed to Utah Cancer for a full work up of blood work. This was easy since I had a port. I'll receive all my results this Thursday at my Zometa appointment. I am going to try and attach a picture of my bone scan.