It is with much anguish that I begin to write again. As in the past, we feel that this is a way to keep our friends and family updated and informed. Bobby said that it is hard for him to have to keep telling his progress over and over. He said that it hurts him to tell anyone because of how it makes the other person feel. We hope this helps and keeps everyone feeling like they know what we know, and how he is doing. Please understand that while we would like to be able to personally tell everyone individually, it is very hard news for us to deliver.
In January, Bobby had a routine CAT scan at NIH. It was to be the last scan for a while as he had finished the vaccine trial. He has been going to NIH for a clinical trial with a melanoma vaccine. In that scan, they found a few suspicious spots in both of his lungs. The spots were small and their recommendation was to wait 4 months and repeat the CAT scan. On Tuesday, they repeated the scan and found that the spots had increased in size and were consistent with metastatic melanoma in the lungs. We went to NIH on Tuesday, Wednesday, and again today.
The melanoma has spread and is now in Bobby's lungs. There are 6-7 spots on each side. The largest spot is about 6mm round. The doctors at NIH said that this is a typical course for melanoma that spreads to the lungs.
The treatment for the cancer at this stage is called Interleukin-2. I will post more information shortly on what the plan is and what we expect will happen. I want to go ahead and post this at this point so it is available. Please feel free to email us about anything. I don't know much more than what I've posted so far, but will add more (hopefully tonight).
Well, it is morning. Sorry. To the best of our knowledge so far, the Interleukin-2 treatment will probably start in May. I think I will just post a link for you to read about it. We were told that the IL-2 has the potential to minimize/shrink the tumors and in some cases (5%) may even cure the disease. The treatments are given in the hospital and make you very sick. You are in the hospital for a few days, come home to recover & go back in when your body can take it again. We will find out more information in about 10 days when Bobby has his appointment with the oncologist in Baltimore.
Here are two links. The areas of interest are for Stage IV Melanoma and are toward the bottoms of the articles. ARTICLE 1 ARTICLE 2 I will add more information as we learn it ourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment