A disappointing setback

The MRI today did not bring good news. The scan showed significant brain swelling in the left frontal cavity where Susan’s tumor was removed that has pushed the left hemisphere across the midline. That explains why she’s been struggling so much. Dr. Nghiemphu showed us the views done with IV contrast where there’s a lot of contrasted area in the cavity on the left and the “remaining” tumor site on the right, explaining it’s probably tumor resurgence. She said the amount of change over the past six weeks is cause for concern.
While we could push to get Susan on a clinical trial like the brain cancer vaccine/immunotherapy at this time, the doctor would like to see her begin treatment with a chemotherapy called CPT-11 plus a biological agent called Avastin. Avastin was developed for colorectal cancer and has been found to cut off the blood supply to brain tumors. It’s been approved in the USA and is still in late clinical trials elsewhere. The CPT-11/Avastin combination is now the most common 2nd line of treatment for brain tumor recurrence and is the same one our friend Jeff Nord is having now. Since it’s an intravenous program, she'll have infusions every two weeks at UCLA beginning in a couple of weeks once it’s approved by our insurance company. We're hopeful the Avastin will do its thing to cut off the blood flow to her tumor and we’re hoping to see relief of symptoms in the next few days as she goes back on the anti-swelling steroids for now.

We've had the blessing of stable improvement for five months, so this turn is discouraging. This change is hard because it seemed like Susan’s stability might continue indefinitely. Today we were reminded how aggressive this type of cancer is. But God's presence is life-giving, His faithfulness protects us, and His gift of hope sustains us always. Just today, our bad news was tempered with two generous and anonymous gifts (one by mail, one by the church offering plate), some gift cards for dinner, and an offer from the drug company to pay for Susan’s Avastin if our insurance company won’t. We're so grateful for our church family and for the kindness of caring people. We are holding to God's unchanging hand.