Bumps in the Road…

I love to drive. The wife and I love to take off the T-Tops and on one of those late summer evenings jump in the car and go for a ride. Late summer in Connecticut is quite beautiful in the country. There are many "scenic routes" just made for an early evening cruise. The countryside is filled with historic old homes, farms and farm animals dot the landscape and there is always an occasional small town to drive through. The roads are generally well cared for and the sailing is smooth…except for that occasional bump. When it comes, it is unexpected and catches you so off guard that you almost feel like you were asleep at the wheel. But you deal with it and continue the journey and so it is with life.

This past 5 years has been almost surreal for my family. First I was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia in 2002. After 8 cycles of chemotherapy I went into remission. I have been in remission ever since. That was a bump and we dealt with it and moved on.

A little over a year ago my wife was diagnosed with Renal Cell Carcinoma. In August of 2006 she had her right kidney removed. She was declared cancer free. Although serious, this seemed like just another bump and we were thankful and moved on with life. Within 3 months the cancer returned. And it returned with a vengeance. A tumor was found growing in the incision bed where the kidney was removed. Then it was discovered in the lymph node cluster that stretches across the abdomen. From there it was traced into a lymph node in the chest and lastly a small spot was discovered on her spine. Seemed that our bump had become a real hole in the road.

Treatment was necessary and it was necessary immediately. She received Interleukin-2 (IL-2) which is probably one of if not the hardest treatment options available for cancer. This treatment is so tough that it is not even given to older patients because of the low survivability rates. What this treatment does is supercharge the immune system so that it fights the cancer without the use of other cancer fighting agents. That has a sort of nice ring to it, not having foreign chemical wandering about in the body. The fact is the immune system is a wonderful creation. However, it can also be a source of discomfort and even death if it runs off wildly and uncontrollably. My wife did survive this treatment although she developed Capillary Leak Syndrome (a rare side effect of this treatment) from it and was near death for about 4 days. A lot of prayers and some great hospital care pulled her through it. Unfortunately the IL-2 did not work for her. She is no more cancer free than when she started and in fact the tumor has continued to grow.

Where are we now? I say we, but the fact is I have no clue how heavy this is weighing on her except for what she tells me. We do talk about it but she tries to remain positive and so do I. She is currently taking pain medicines because this cancer is painful especially the tumor area and the stomach nodes. She began taking a drug called Sutent (sunitinib). This drug works by blocking the blood supply to the cancer causing it to lose it's food supply so to speak. It stops growing and in some cases will shrink away. Complete response is rare and partial response is still a good outcome as the patient can live with the dormant cancer for many years. However this becomes a lifelong drug. It is also not cheap, 28 capsules costs $7,900.00. We are certainly hoping for a complete response but a partial response will be welcomed as opposed to no response.

The road has not been as smooth as we would like and it has gotten a little chilly to have the tops off, but bumps or no bumps we will continue the journey…