The evaluation last week at Mayo yielded some new information, as well as a lot of old information that I already knew about. The doctor confirmed many suspicions that I had (actually, they weren't suspicions. After 6 months of treatment you start listening to your body, and you just know). The tumor in the leg has returned, with the amount that can be felt just the tip of the iceberg. The tumor actually extends quite far into the upper thigh. The lungs are a mixed bag of results with some areas better than others, but overall about the same. There were no other tumors in other parts of the body. Some of the best news is that there were no new tumors in the brain. The three original spots are still there, but appear to be the same size as they were 2 months ago. I was still anemic and required another transfusion. And the chemo that I have been on for the last 6 months has finally quit working (except for the side effects, which are just wonderful! HaHa). One thing I did not know was that most patients who take ifosfamide/etoposide can only handle 2 or 3 cycles due to the side effects. That I was able to tolerate 7 or 8 rounds can be atributed to the fact that except for the cancer I was an otherwise healthy 33-year-old, and my system could take the pressure.

The new chemo that I have just started is gencytabine and taxotere. Fortunately it is done on an outpatient basis (no more hospital food) and is more easily tolerated (less nausea). It has about a 40% response rate as a secondary regemin in treatment of sarcomas. We should be able to tell if it works or not within 2 rounds.

I can only say that I have been blessed with family and friends who love and care about me, and that is one of the things that has helped me to hold on when I feel sick and down. God bless all of you.

We finally got a new scanner to replace the broken, and as promised, finally got some pics scanned. As you can tell, we had just as much fun as the girls, even Dave got to be "Tigger" for a little while, although I thought Goofy would have better suited him :-).

Tomorrow Dave will be going to the Mayo clinic for 2 days of scans and re-evaluation of where things stand and what the next steps are. He should be having a full body scan so we should know where the tumors in the brain stand as well. Please send some prayers and thoughts David's way as the chemo regimen he has taken has finally reached it's peak or effectivity. Dr. Link at the University is giving his opinion that he will have to go with another chemo regimen but we'll have to wait and see what Mayo has to say. He is deriving this because recently Dave has started to feel another "lump" in or near the same area as the original tumor sight. It's all speculations now until scans can be done, but we are nervous that it could be another tumor growth. We are not sure right now what will be next on Dave's agenda but we are asking for lots of prayers and good thoughts for Dave. His father will be taking him so he is in good hands and I just pray that the doctors at Mayo find something that will help him out.

Thanks for all the support, and I am sorry for not posting sooner but Dave didn't want everyone to know or worry about what possibly could be going on in his leg right now. Well, I just wanted the prayers to flourish for the visit to Mayo.
God Bless,
Kim