June 4 Report

Hey friends,

I'm bummed to report a little bit of growth measured in today's visit with Yao. Three of the carcinoids on mom's liver have been busy; two grew about 4 mm and one grew 5mm. (The other five held steady.) We had just gotten so used to "no significant growth," that we were all a bit stunned and deflated when we got this news.

Reassuringly, Dr. Yao called it "very, very little" growth (that's two 'very's), but he did recommend taking some action instead of just waiting around, which has heretofore been our game plan. He told us about two potential drugs that mom can opt for:

(1) An FDA-approved hormone that is most often prescribed to carcinoid patients when they start to exhibit symptoms from carcinoid syndrome. Thankfully, mom is not yet having any symptoms, which means she doesn't have the syndrome. The idea is that this hormone retards the growth of the tumors, though the nice RN who was doing the explaining (Yao's research assistant) didn't have any hard data on it at the time.

(2) A drug that's in clinical trials. This would be a two-year program for which mom would get the meds -- or potentially a placebo, which is part of how the trial works -- and hopefully retard the growth of her tumors. The same nice nurse, Michi, said the drug has had success in doing just that. Mom would have a shot once a month, be closely monitored, and Yao could pull her out at any time if he wanted to go a different direction with her treatment.

Either way, Kimmie's back on a three-month schedule of visits to MDA because of today's measurements. To be very honest, we are a little sad, a little scared, and in need of wisdom on how/what/when to pursue treatment. Mom said to be sure to say we are "disappointed but regrouping" and "not despairing." She says she is looking at this as us (ok, her) finally getting a chance to do something about fighting this cancer, instead of just waiting for it to grow. "Getting out in front of it" was her exact phrase.

So now I guess we're entering a new phase of this whole cancer thing. I have to say, I'm not really jazzed up for it. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe they should have had Tigger (that would be Carrie) do this post instead of Eyeore (that would be me)...

At any rate, we covet your prayers/well-wishes/kind words, those we've already gotten and those sure to come. Mom also says thanks for the shower of love and support she feels from all of you.

I think I changed the settings on "Comments", so maybe those of you who have had trouble leaving notes (which are much, much appreciated) in the past, may be able to do so now? But dad says if anyone's having trouble/intimidated by the blog, you can email him or mom: jrlove@gmail.com and kimclove@gmail.com.

Thank you again to everyone for being friends to us and especially to mom,

Abby