[Magdalen] Clinical trial

[Susan Hagen]

Dear Eleanor,
You'll continue in my prayers.  I am very glad you have this option.
I don't envy you the trips to Boston.
Susan

On Fri, Dec 9, 2016 at 12:51 PM, Eleanor Braun <eleanor.braun at gmail.com> 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



-- 
The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among
you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the
land of Egypt.
Leviticus 19:34