HOPE PREVAILS

Election Day 2008 brought good news from sea to shining sea. As the votes were coming in on the east coast, we were receiving news of Rosalie’s clear scan on the west coast.

There is no visible tumor left on the spine. This scan looks better than her scan six weeks ago. We are elated.

We know that our blog is not about politics; it is about our daughter’s journey through cancer. But somehow it seems fitting that we received such good news at the dawn of a new era. We received good news on the day that man who ran on a platform of HOPE was elected president.

Rosalie will begin a metronomic/low-dose regimen of temozolomide(Temodar) and cis-retinoic acid(Accutane). She will take these drugs orally every day for 42 day cycles. We are not sure how many cycles she will tolerate, but we are quite certain that she will handle these low doses better than typical chemo. This combination of drugs has an anti-angiogenic effect, that is, these agents help control cancer by inhibiting blood vessel proliferation. The theory is that by inhibiting the blood supply the cancer will be starved.

Again, Rosalie amazes us with her incredible ease at the hospital. She handled yet another MRI like a champ.

Yes We Can!