Update on ICON8 trial

[ZenaJ]

Hope everyone is feeling as well as possible.

The results for the trial have arrived and are for figures up to 2018. It shows that having chemo weekly makes no difference to having chemo three weekly. Low blood counts are worse if chemo given weekly but other side effects are no different.

Apparently in Japan the weekly chemo shows improvement over three weekly but they don't really know why.

Whether it prolongs life is still ongoing as this is a relatively new trial. I will be monitored, I guess until I drop, so I'll be on this trial for many years to come.

The outcome is, that chemo will be given the same as it's always been given for the time being, every three weeks.

Going to look at a dog we're going to adopt now. Really looking forward to it.

Best wishes,

Zena xx

[Lyndy]

Thanks for the update and good luck with your doggie adoption xx

[Petrolhead]

Hi Zena

Thanks for the update. Interesting.

After the adoption you must post a photo please

Best wishes

Fay

[ZenaJ in reply to Petrolhead]

Will do. He's a 2 year old beagle. We've only had 2 visits but fingers crossed he'll be ours. x

[BeeWild]

Thanks Zena x And good luck with the dog, how exciting 😁

[Lindaura]

Thanks for the update, Zena,

You seem to be doing well, fingers crossed...

I love beagles. So I am happy to hear you will be adopting one.

Not too big and not to small with lucky velvety long ears.

Hugs,

Laura

[Solange]

Interesting, reading your update, thank you, Zena. Isn't it strange that the Japanese feel that the weekly treatment is better than the three weekly? I'm pleased you seem to be doing ok and I'm looking forward to hearing the results of you being monitored for many years. Great positivity! 👏

How lovely to be getting your rescue dog - something else to focus on. We keep thinking of getting a cat again. Maybe when our caravanning days are over. We tried taking our last one with us and our mild, timid, little tabby girl turned into a wild, escapologist killer. She even tried to get to the game birds the farmer was breeding!! Then she escaped when the next field was being harvested and we were terrified she would be caught up in the machinery. 😲 She jumped over the half door to get out, knocking over the full teapot and ended up dangling the other side, to name but a few of her adventures. Luckily we still had a couple of older children at home to leave her with and we had her 18 years. Hmmm!! Maybe a dog .............. ? 🤔We do love them and enjoy everyone else's pets.

Have fun with your new companion, love, Solange 😊

[ZenaJ in reply to Solange]

Thanks Solange, what a cat you had. We've had rescue cats before but this is my first dog. I'm looking forward to it. When we had cats we had our son living with us and he looked after them when we were away. It will be strange having something moving around the house again.

As you can tell, I haven't given up the ghost yet. I've also started a holiday Spanish group. I could only say hola but now I know at least thirty words. It helps keep the brain working and might be useful.

I do hope you are keeping well. I'm not on here as much as I used to be but like to keep up with news. So many of our dear friends have gone, I'm hoping some have just decided to leave the site.

All the very best,

Zena xx

[Solange]

It's funny, we had many cats over the years - each one had a completely unique personality and all would come to greet us when we arrived home. One of them would always know somehow when we were going away and when we came back would hang around us but but sit with his back to us and refuse to respond to us. He couldn't keep it up for long though and soon had to have a cuddle, once he'd displayed his displeasure with us for about half an hour.

Good luck with your Spanish. I loved learning it at school and, when the children went to school, did a day class for a couple of years, just for fun. Then, when we started to go to Portugal, I learnt a fair bit of Portuguese. However, as I've got older, I've sadly found the old saying 'You'll lose it if you don't use it ' only too true. Last week one of my sons signed me up for a free Portuguese course trial but have had to stop as I hadn't realised I would have to actually speak. My paralysed vocal cord stops me speaking loudly enough and distorts my voice so I couldn't be understood. I'm now a bit worried as I've realised there were hidden things that DID cost that you could sign up for that had to be actually opted out of if you don't want them. I've tried to unsubscribe but that seems just to be to notifications and competitions to my inbox, not the actual Course. Can't get through to personally do it by speaking to a human being, unfortunately, it's just tick boxes that are irrelevant to it. I'll just have to wait and see............ S xx 😏

[ZenaJ in reply to Solange]

That all sounds complicated Solange. I go to my local U3A group and we learn together. It's more for fun really. I hope you get it all sorted out. xx

[Solange in reply to ZenaJ]

Sounds fun, Zena. Not sure if I made it obvious - my course is / was on our tablet / laptop. 😊 Xx

[Artgreen]

Wow that’s interesting! I had weekly taxol and three weekly carboplatin. I thought the taxol was easier to tolerate physically as it was a lower dose than it would have been so I was quite grateful. But then being low grade serous, chemo is not very effective anyway.

What a choice!

Good luck with the rescue dog! We’ve had three rescue cats and they are all so different! I hope that he or she settles in quickly .

Alex x

[ZenaJ in reply to Artgreen]

Thanks Alex, All we've done up to now are visits. We have to have an inspection. He's just a cute dog and seems happy enough with us. I'm really looking forward to when he can move in. Apparently, he's had a very rough life up to now, poor thing. xx