Roller Coaster Ride

Life is like a roller coaster ride!  The ride starts out slow, you feel secure in your seat, and you are excited to see what lies ahead.  The coaster chugs up the first hill, you can’t wait to get to the top.  You look at your partner and say, “Isn’t this the best? I’m so glad it’s you that is sitting next to me.  You make me feel secure, happy and comfortable in my life.  You are my best friend”. You arrive at the top and the thrill of the view is beyond amazing.  It’s at this point you realize, what goes up must come down, and down you go.  And now you must climb again to get to the top of the ride so that you can once again enjoy the view and thrill that you experienced.  This time, the top is higher up, the coaster chugs along, and you start to wonder if you will ever arrive at the top. Like life, sometimes getting back to the top gets a little harder.  The one thing I can say, without reservation, is that whatever it takes to get to the top again, IT IS WORTH IT!

Below is a letter we sent to our family after Cliff met with his oncologist at MD Anderson in Houston on Friday, November 8.

Arvonne and I are in Houston and saw my oncologist at MD Anderson today.  My cancer is growing in my right lung - two nodules in particular.  It isn't alarming but needs attention.  The largest is now about 3 by 2.5 cm.  We had scaled back my chemo, eliminating Avastin because it perforated my septum, but we will be adding that back as well as another chemo drug named irinotecan. This is intended to beat it back, but only time will tell how well it works.

Dr Kopetz then talked to us about an immunotherapy clinical trial.  He thinks I am a good candidate and MDA is just now introducing it to colorectal patients.  They have had decent success with cervical cancer and melanoma, and they now have their first colorectal patient in the initial stages.  Her results are not yet known.

In this trial, they excise a cancerous tumor, then harvest the cancer fighting cells inside that tumor, then they work some magic to convert them into millions of Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes.  This takes 4-6 weeks.  They introduce those back into the blood stream with the intent that they seek out and KILL the cancer cells.  The intended result is a CURE, or at least a period of time where you are cancer free.

The treatment period, after the surgery, is 3-4 weeks.  They would administer five treatments of Interleukin-2, which would drain my body of white blood cells and wipe out my immune system.  I would be in the hospital the whole time, closely monitored for heart issues and any other signs of trouble. 

Several weeks afterwards, they would do another CT scan to see what has happened.  The hope of course is that the cancer has shrunk or has been eliminated.  If the trial fails, I would be eligible to go back to the maintenance drugs I have been on.

If we proceed, I will have to pass several stress tests and meet some other requirements to qualify.  We would basically move to Houston for the time it takes to complete the trial.  Timing will be determined during our visit in January.  At the moment it seems it would be in the March to May timeframe.

The coaster ride continues. It’s a bit bumpy and scary at times but I still look over and say, “I’m glad it is you sitting next to me in this crazy ride we call life. 

Go Fight Win!!!!