When I last wrote, we were exploring treatment options for Derek around the country, as no one at City of Hope or at Loma Linda really had any options we hadn't already tried. We asked St. Jude's, but were told Derek didn't qualify for any clinical trials there. We talked to a friend at the NIH, but also
received no options. Our Loma Linda doctor spoke with two doctors at Stanford, but received the same answer - no clinical trials available to him, no good ideas for treating T-cell in second relapse, not much out there. We weren't ready to give up.
Vince woke very early in the morning on Tuesday, April 5, and unable to sleep more, went to his computer to do some more searching. He came across a clinical trial at Stanford that addressed part of Derek's cancer gene problem. He emailed the lead physician and later called our Loma Linda doctor to request that he call Stanford regarding this trial. The doctor at Stanford was very hopeful and said he would look at Derek's case and let us know by afternoon. No word came, but at 8:30 that evening, my cell phone rang. It was Dr. Lacayo from Stanford saying he thought Derek would qualify for the trial, and he wanted to see Derek. Could we come on Thursday for an appointment and testing? I spent Wednesday getting Derek's necessary records and preparing to travel to Stanford for a possible extended stay. My mother flew in to help at home while Derek and I are gone.
We left shortly after 4 a.m. Thursday morning as Derek's appointment was at noon at Stanford. I stopped for an hour to sleep and pulled into the hospital at 11:45. Derek had labs drawn and we met Dr. Lacayo. He was very warm and compassionate, extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Dr. Lacayo said he was hopeful the trial would address Derek's particular cancer but said in order to qualify, he would have to show that Derek's leukemia is increasing in his bone marrow as the study is for leukemia, not just lymphoma. This may be a problem as Derek's donor graft seems to have been somewhat effective in keeping it out of his marrow. Dr. Lacayo scheduled a bone marrow aspiration and biopsy and lumbar puncture with IT chemo for Friday. Derek also had a baseline ECHO. Then we headed to a hotel the hospital had arranged for us as there isn't room yet in the Ronald McDonald House. Even though the hotel is only about 15 miles from the hospital, it took us an hour and a half to navigate the streets and traffic to get there. We were exhausted.
The next morning we tried a different route, and it still took us about an hour to get back to the hospital. It was a rather frustrating morning as I dealt with traffic and insurance issues, tried to get medication prescriptions filled, and waited. In the midst of all the frustration, though, God showed me through a kind friend that he hadn't forgotten about us. Derek had his procedures at 2 p.m. But it was 5:00 before we got back to the clinic to see Dr. Lacayo before heading back to the hotel for the weekend. He had to bang on the pharmacy door and insist we get the needed medication. He told us he hoped to have the bone marrow results by Monday. So we wait.
Friday evening, my brother- and sister-in-law met us at our hotel and kindly brought us dinner. They happened to be in the area for a home show.
We have spent the last two days resting and recuperating at the hotel. It has been a much needed change of pace to go from rushing busy-ness to resting with not much to do. And waiting. We did venture out yesterday afternoon to see Monterey Bay and to meet up with my cousin who was out this way from Michigan. Once again, I was reminded again that God is holding us in the palm of his hand. Psalm 121. We also met some friends I haven't seen in years. For a place I thought I knew no one, we've seen several people I know.
What will tomorrow hold? Will Derek get on the clinical trial? Only God knows, and we are waiting. We choose to trust, to make note of His providence witnessed over the weekend, and wait to see what He will do.
1 comment:
Praying he gets on!!!
Post a Comment