Alimta is out, Hexalen is in

The Alimta was not working as well as it should. It has been discontinued. Her CA-125 level has been slowly increasing and the PET scan showed signs of increased growth. Her blood clots and the anticoagulation factor discovered in a previous blood test are a direct result of her cancer. The hope is to find a drug or drug combination that will stop her cancer from progressing. Lucy still have chemotherapy options available.

The new drug is Hexalen, an oral chemotherapy drug. Lucy will be taking it every day for two weeks, then get two weeks off. She will need weekly blood tests because of her clotting problem and the fact her blood counts were generally low because of the previous rounds of chemo. Her next blood test is a week from today, and it can be a port draw. That will give her arms a chance to recover from all the pokes she received in the hospital.

Her hemoglobin was still at 8.1, so that was a good sign. Her white count and platelet count were in the normal range. Her legs are slowly getting less swollen, she is having less discomfort, and she has not had a fever spike since leaving the hospital.

We still don't know if the Pradaxa is working. There is no slam dunk blood test that will help. The drug awaiting in the wings is Arixtra, the injection drug mentioned a few posts back. The challenge will be trying to figure out if she has a clot forming. Both legs are still pink and have peeling skin on them. It will be tough to spot the tell tale erythema (rash) or streaks from a forming blood clot. As I have mentioned, Homans' sign is wrong a lot, and Pratt's sign doesn't seem to be any better. If Lucy's leg pain starts increasing or if she starts having fever spikes, we're going to get her in for an ultrasound.

We're both frustrated and disappointed right now. It's been hard trying to find the bright spots in today's events. The biggest bright spot we have is your compassion. Thank you for that, it helps us through these rough patches.