Today has been a good day.  With the patch, I think we’ve finally gotten both the pain and the nausea under control.  Yippee!  Maggie had a decent-sized meal for lunch, something she hasn’t done for more than a week.  And there’s been plenty of smiles to go around.  We are both quite happy about this turn.  So happy, in fact, we will be heading out, if briefly, to a Halloween Party to say hi to friends.

Radiation treatments continue.  We’ve developed a slight rash on the neck area which supposedly is a common side-effect.  But it’s definitely killing off the tumors in that area.  Good stuff.

Clinical trial research continues.  For those of you so inclined, here are the seven studies we are researching right now.  The first three studies are at CTRC and the remaining are at START:

• #NCT00674024 – Pazopanib in Treating Patients With Metastatic or Unresectable Solid Tumors or Lymphoma and Liver Dysfunction
• AMG 479 – Study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetic of AMG 479
• Enzastaurin – A pharmacokinetic study of Enzastaurin in Cancer Patients with Varying Degree of Hepatic Dysfunction
• #NCT00520390 – Study to Evaluate the Safety and Tolerability of Intravenous EZN-2208 in Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors or Lymphoma
• #NCT00689065 – Safety Study of CALAA-01 to Treat Solid Tumor Cancers
• #NCT00728390 – A Safety And Efficacy Study Of The Combination Of Oral PF-00299804 And Intravenous CP-751,871 Given Every 3 Weeks
• Biogen Idec study just to see if Maggie’s tumor expresses the cripto antigen

In no way is this an exhaustive list of available trials.  Of course, we have to qualified as eligible but as long as Maggie’s liver functionality it appears we’ll have options.  Additionally, more trials will cycle in and out keeping the pool fresh, so to speak.

Our job now is to decide on which of these (or others) we feel is most appropriate for us.  To help us make that choice, we’ve been making calls to find an expert, a non-biased expert clinical-trial oncologist willing to spend some time with us discussing options.   We have a some good people who have volunteered their time to help.  Ultimately, the decision is our ours.

Thank you for all your kind words and thoughts about Niko.  It’s just so…. preposterous.  She’s anxious to get her stitches out but is doing fine.  I spoke with her doctor to confirm the diagnosis and ask what to expect.  Essentially, the only real treatment at this point would be to carve out of her skin about a 2 inch hole in an attempt to get any and all of the cancer.  The vet, given how slowly this has developed over time, didn’t want to put Niko through that painful process.  She said to watch the area carefully and, if there’s any changes we can perform that procedure.  Since Niko is hairless it’s very, very easy for us to notice even the slightest changes in her skin.