Brody's Chemo Regimen Protocol was Changed Today

We just found out today that Brody's chemo regimen has been changed.  We were expecting to be admitted to the hospital starting today for a total of 6 days and taking Ifosfamide and Etoposide (which would have been new drugs for Brody).  But instead we are going to be repeating another round of Doxorubicin and Cyclophosphamide that he received at his last admission.  These medications only require a one night stay at the hospital usually.  Brody will get the Ifosfamide and Etoposide on his next admission though.  He will be admitted the week of July 2nd for this regimen.  Brody will get another CT scan in a couple weeks to check tumor response to chemo so far and evaluate if his nephrostomy tubes may be able to be removed or not.  After Brody has time to recover from the round of Ifosfamide and Etoposide, he will be evaluated again to determine if surgery is yet a possibility to remove the tumor or not.  Sloan-Kettering Tumor Board did review Brody's case.  Oncologist there and here are in agreement as to chemo options for Brody and the surgeon at Sloan-Kettering states that surgery is not an option yet.  Must shrink tumor more first.  At this point, since chemo is working, then of course, shrinking tumor is best choice.  (although I wish it coulda come out when it was much smaller when he was first diagnosed with the recurrence.  Most oncologists and surgeons believe it is best to try chemo to shrink the tumor first though, not only to help make the tumor smaller and surgery easier but also so that they will know whether chemo is working or not.  No matter when the surgery is performed, chemo has to follow for quite some time after the surgery and they prefer to know if the agents they are giving are effective/shrinking the tumor.  If the tumor is removed before trying chemo, they can no longer see it to see if it is responsive to chemo or not and there generally are micro-metastases that aren't visible on scans that the chemo is needed to treat.  It was very scary when all this started again to witness the tumor growing so fast and the chemo that was given initially was not working.  The tumor was about the same size at recurrence as it was the last time surgery was performed to remove it during initial diagnosis.  So my instinct was get it out now, while it's still small enough to be a possibility.  But the surgeons refused to remove it without trying chemo to shrink it first and here we are in our present situation.  Fortunately though, even though the tumor is far larger now, Brody does now seem to be responding to chemo.  Hopefully it will shrink to small enough size to get it out surgically soon). 

 

Brody is handling his Doxorubicin and Cyclophosphamide ok today.  He has only vomited once so far and nausea since then seems to be pretty well-controlled with the meds they are giving for it. He has been complaining of double-vision for the last hour or so.  His doctor thinks this is from the Ativan that they are giving to help with the nausea (along with other nausea meds as well).  Brody is not seeing double if he keeps one eye closed.  So he looks kinda funny squinting one eye so that he doesn't see double while watching his Phineas and Ferb right now.  I have lost count of how many episodes of Phineas and Ferb he has watched today.  Definetely his favorite toon these days.  (and yes, Rich Tinsley, I agree that Brody has good taste in toon selection.  I like Phineas and Ferb and his SpongeBob Squarepants too). 

 

Please continue to pray for Brody.  The prayers seem to be working.