The genetic testing results came in and they were unable to find any match for a targeted drug, so it looks like we're out of that clinical trial. The pills for chemotherapy drug Lonsurf - pronounced "lawn surf" - had actually already been delivered Friday, so Karen was able to start on them immediately. We had an appointment last week where we went over what to expect when taking Lonsurf. The typical side effects are: diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, a decrease in white and red blood cells, and a decrease in platelets. Theses side effects actually sound kind of mild compared to what we've dealt with before. There's no mention of anything like sensitivity to cold, aches, chills, or hand-foot syndrome. All of which have been hard on Karen when dealing with chemo previously. The Lonsurf is taken twice a day, 5 days on and then 2 days off, for two weeks, and then there's a break for two weeks.
Chemotherapy's never really been able to shrink Karen's cancer. The best we've done is to stall or slow down the growth. This means this new drug is also unlikely to shrink these already painful growths. As such, the palliative team has suggested we use radiation therapy on these areas. One of them is so near the surface that it should be possible to treat it with almost no side effects in just one session of radiation. It was also suggested that we don't have to worry about any major side effects since these spots are close to the surface. Seeing as how either just dealing with the pain or having another surgery were the only other options we had considered, Karen was quite excited by this prospect. We'll have one appointment to go over the procedure and its possible side effects, and if we're still interested, a "simulation" where they measure everything out more exactly.
