As a refresher, I was invited to participate in two clinical trials. I chose the AMG 509 program, which is local, instead of QuEST1, which is 2 hours away by car. There were few data points to assist in the decision.
The Doctors and administrators from NCI were supportive and accommodating. They invited me to continue to stay involved, suggesting that they will be accepting patients for a while and that I should keep them up to date. One said, he thought i should do both. I am not sure exactly what he means by that, but I will find out in the near future.
The AMG 509 trial administrators have been conducting a battery of tests to make sure I qualify for the program, which will begin on December 15. The last qualifying test is a bone biopsy later today.
The scan and labs section has produced some moments that caused a bit of anxiety. For example, a nurse called after the CT Chest was done, the radiologist called out an area in my lungs upper right lobe that had ground-glass opacity. She asked me if I had a chest cold or cough. I responded by letting her know that physically I feel great. Emotionally is another story. She didn't help the situation by suggesting something was going on in my lungs. My mind went directly to the worst possible place, and I imagined that the cancer is metastasizing to my lungs. Ultimately, I had appointments the next day with the trial administrators for an echocardiogram and other blood tests. I walked into the oncologist's office unannounced and asked him to review the CT scan with me. He was nice enough to take 10 minutes to show it to me, and it was a very faint impression. He said he is not worried about it. There are obvious jokes to go with this scenario, but I was mostly relieved to see the images and hear his words.
The labs have included many things I never heard of before, but I watch PSA, AST, ALT, ALP, and LDH. The numbers have been jumping around erratically. ALP was 157 on November 2, 135 on November 27, and then 187 on December 3.
LDH has swung from 132 down to 115 and then up to 680 in the test at Jefferson on December 3. Other numbers are going up and down.
I have eliminated Abiritarone for 30 days to cleanse my system for the antibody.
My reactions to the last couple of weeks' events, and at times non-events, have been more emotional than they have ever been. I don't particularly appreciate feeling this way, and the only relief has come from long aerobic exercise sessions. I have always been able to manage my emotions well, no matter what stresses and pressures happen. I pride myself on keeping my head while everyone else is losing their composure. The kind of sadness I have been feeling is uncomfortable. I suppose there are times when the cumulative stress takes its toll, and the transition from losing my brother to dealing with the reactivation of cancerous growth in my body is a lot to deal with in a short period. Hopefully, I will find effective coping mechanisms as I move into the next phase of the battle.
I continue to be asymptomatic. I am grateful for that. I cleared enough time to quarantine for a week, get covid tests for my whole family, and spent Sunday with my son, daughter, 20 month-old granddaughter. It was a delightful day.
I leave for the bone marrow biopsy momentarily. Thursday, my wife gets a knee replaced, and then I start to receive the infusion exactly one week from today.
Thanks for listening, commenting, and advising.
Philly
PSA still low but cancer progressing
Starting Chemo & Immunotherapy this week
CDK 12 mutation and Immunotherapy
An immunotherapy drug called
Next steps -questions on immunotherapy
