Updates

Dear family and friends,
I had a scan a few weeks ago and the results were mixed, some of the tumors were shrinking, but others were larger and there was a new one as well.  Dr. Rinn, as always, had a few tricks up her sleeve and a plan.  She suggested getting tissue samples from the new tumor and one of the shrinking tumors to see if there was a pathological difference between the two that might be clinically relevant. Last Friday I had a liver biopsy and got the preliminary results this week and it turns out there IS a difference.  The new tumor is HER2 positive, which means I'm eligible for additional treatments like Herceptin.

In addition to the standard pathology tests, she also ordered genomic tests on the tissue.  It will take a couple weeks to get results, but potentially, the results might indicate whether I would be a candidate for certain experimental drugs available in clinical trails or through the compassionate use clause in the FDA.  More info to come, but that's the update for now.

In other news, Kate posted about my half-marathon training, which is coming along, though last week's liver biopsy slowed me down.  I'm scheduled to run 13 miles tomorrow and the race is July 13th.