Bridge Over Troubled Water

Denny had his films done on Friday as scheduled.  We spent a long, tense weekend waiting for results.  This morning we met with Dr. Murphy to discuss them.  Dr. Murphy started off with, "Well, the films didn't give us the results I was hoping for."  Life changed again for us with that sentence.  The bottom line is the chemo is not working.  The tumor has grown and has now broken through to the bone at the base of his skull.  This is what has caused Denny's headaches and eye-watering symptoms. 

Dr. Murphy explained that she wanted to begin a new treatment.  She wants to begin using a drug called Erbitux, which is a "targeted therapy".  To put it simply, the targeted therapy drug will interfere with the ability of cancer cells to grow, divide and communicate with other cancer cells while leaving the healthy cells alone.  Chemo drugs affect both cancer cells and normal cells.  That is the difference.

The Erbitux comes with life-threatening risks.  Stopping the ability to breathe and stopping the heart are the most notable.  Dr. Murphy then mentioned a curious thing.  She said 20% of the people born and raised in this area experience terrible side effects; meaning people from Tennessee, Kentucky, and North Carolina.  Whereas people from other areas experience on 1% - 3% risk.  I asked, "Why?".  Oddly enough, she said people in this area are so adversely affected because of their exposure to fungus in the soil. Since we are not originally from here, she thinks Denny will be fine on this drug.  She also expects it to work!

To date, he is scheduled to received a tiny dose on July 8th to see how he reacts to the drug.  If he doesn't have a reaction, he will begin treatment with this drug every Monday for the rest of his life.  What happens if he does react?  Read on...

Dr. Murphy is working to get a biopsy scheduled for this week.  With the holiday, we may be looking at the beginning of next week before it happens.  She wants to send a tissue sample off to "Foundations Medicine" in Boston.  She said they can break the tissue down to it's molecular level to look for genetic abnormalities.  Once they know this, it will be cross referenced with the drug used to treat that abnormality.  Since Vanderbilt is a research facility and Denny has a rare cancer, there will be no cost to us to examine the tumor. Normally, this costs upwards of $5,500.  However, since his cancer is so rare, they are very interested in him.  To date, his cancer has been excluded from all clinical trials and research because it is so unpredictable.  This sounds very promising to me.

Denny wore his "Superman" hat to the appointment.  When we got the news, we sat in the Doctor's office as we struggled to process it.  This was tremendously difficult news to receive when we had such high hopes for the Taxol.  However, the "Man of Steel" has returned and he is ready to get moving forward.

I cannot explain to you how terribly helpless it feels being there with him as he goes through this.   I wish you could be in the room with me to see the awesome strength of this man. The grace and courage he displays during the darkest periods of his life are a beauty to behold.  Daniel, Dana and I are not standing behind him now.  We are standing with him; providing an unbreakable bridge over the troubled water he is facing.  We know we are not alone.  The prayers and encouragement he is receiving from all of you makes a difference. Thank you.

I will post updates as they come in.  There will be lots of phone calls and scheduling in the days ahead.  Please bear with me and I will see that the info gets posted as quickly as possible.

"I'll take your part
When darkness comes
And pain is all around
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will lay me down."

-Simon & Garfunkel, "Bridge Over Troubled Water" lyrics