new tests and trials

I have never really felt as though God was testing my strength and will, however, a new day has dawned and this is like the final exam! Yesterday was Sean's monthly appointment at NIH with Dr. Fine. The morning started well, but then getting Sean to the car and in the car was quite a challenge. I hadn't realized just how difficult it was going to be for Sean to get out of the house until we tried it. The steps were a problem, but getting into the car was an even bigger problem! Finally, some of the neighbors came out and lent us a hand and it worked like a charm. So after that the rest of the day went off without a problem. Dr. Fine says that the MRI showed more growth in both the cerebellum and the brain stem, however, after looking at the scans (which came from two different scanners and were two different sets of pictures) I couldn't see much change. Either way, the docs feel as though the Avastin has begun to flatline so they are going to put Sean on a "new" trial. This next step will be adding a drug, called CPT-11 to the Avastin treatment as a sort of piggy back drug. This new drug will go in and keep the tumor cells from reproducing now that the Avastin has cut-off the blood supply to the tumor. The combination of these drugs has worked great with colon cancer and Dr. Fine has said that they have had good results with the combination in brain tumor patients. So Sean will start the new protocol next week. The hardest part of this is that he isn't really suffering any tumor symptoms, all of his problems are steroid related. He is now down to only .25 mg of steroids per day. Our next step is to get a physical therapist to come in and help us figure out some low-key exercises Sean can do to build up his strength and help me learn some ways to help Sean move around more efficiently. So that is where we are heading. Being home, as sad as it was to leave school, will be wonderful. Actually, I am looking forward to the challenges that await us, overcoming those challenges together, and reaping the rewards when it's all behind us!