[Magdalen] Clinical trial

[Molly Wolf]

Lotsa prayers from here.  Keep us posted.

Molly

The man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way. -- Mark Twain

> On Dec 9, 2016, at 5:11 PM, Judy Fleener <fleenerj at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> You continue in our prayers, Eleanor.
> 
> 
> On Fri, Dec 9, 2016 at 4:09 PM, Eleanor Braun <eleanor.braun at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> Thanks, Marion.
>> 
>> And for those not on Facebook, "young Harold" is a shih tzu puppy who will
>> come to share my life in mid-January.
>> 
>> Eleanor
>> 
>> 
>> On Fri, Dec 9, 2016 at 4:05 PM Marion Thompson <marionwhitevale at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>>> It's always good to have options and you'll be in good company with
>>> 
>>> Jimmy Carter! Who better?!  I will keep you in my prayers, Eleanor, and
>>> 
>>> especially raise prayers for peace and hope.  Here's to the new year and
>>> 
>>> to young Harold's arrival.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Love and hugs,
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Marion, a pilgrim
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> On 12/9/2016 12:51 PM, Eleanor Braun wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> You may recall that I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in September
>>> 2014.
>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>>> Since then I've been through surgery and two rounds of chemotherapy.
>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>>> After my trip to Iona and England this last September, my cancer marker
>>> had
>>> 
>>>> once again gone up to the point where I needed further treatment.
>> After
>>> 
>>>> further tests and a visit to my top doc at Dana Farber Cancer Institute
>>> in
>>> 
>>>> Boston, I learned my options.
>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>>> For the first time those options included three clinical trials.  In
>> the
>>> 
>>>> past I've been hesitant about clinical trials, mainly because they
>>> require
>>> 
>>>> frequent trips to Boston from Cape Cod.  But now I'm more open to them.
>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>>> As I learned about the available trials, the one that really caught my
>>> 
>>>> attention was a combination of a standard chemotherapy with an
>>> 
>>>> immunotherapy drug.  That drug is the same one that was used to treat
>> and
>>> 
>>>> cure Jimmy Carter's brain tumor (which was metastasized melanoma).
>>> Several
>>> 
>>>> trials are now being undertaken to test that approach on other tumors.
>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>>> So I had to wait until slots in the trial were opened up, and go
>> through
>>> 
>>>> more tests and exams, but I will finally start treatment next Monday at
>>> 
>>>> Dana Farber.  I won't have to go every week; the chemo is given every
>>> four
>>> 
>>>> weeks, and the immuno treatment every three weeks.
>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>>> And I know I will be getting both drugs, not a placebo.  This is a
>> phase
>>> 2
>>> 
>>>> trial, where they are testing the dosing and timing, but everybody gets
>>> the
>>> 
>>>> treatment.
>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>>> Tests so far have indicated the immuno drug has less side effects than
>>> 
>>>> regular chemo.  And I've tolerated the chemo side effects fairly well
>>> 
>>>> through the first two rounds.
>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>>> So I'm hopeful that this will be a tolerable treatment with the
>>> possibility
>>> 
>>>> of improvement, at least for a while.  Ovarian is regarded as an
>>> 
>>>> "aggressive" cancer, and the best hope is to keep beating it back as
>> long
>>> 
>>>> as possible.
>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>>> Your prayers for peace and hope are welcome.
>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>>> Eleanor
>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Judy Fleener, ObJN,SSH
> Western Michigan