Scene 2, Act 3

Well, we are on treatment cycle number 3 of this new chemo regimen. The doctor added Avastin back into the mix yesterday. We weren't too thrilled. Marc was on this during his last treatment cycle and it has some unpleasant side effects -- most notably gushing nosebleeds. Everything else remains the same.

This cycle has already been harder on him. Emotionally it's a drag. He was feeling wonderful this weekend, so going into the clinic yesterday was hard. Knowing that he is going in feeling great and will leave feeling awful is a huge hurdle. As pleasant as OHSU is, it's still chemo. It's a grind. We scheduled his treatments out through the end of the year. This process will be part of our lives for the foreseeable future.

We aren't sure if it's the Avastin or just the cumulative effects of the chemo, but he hasn't been able to manage the nausea this round. The last two treatment cycles had been so mild that we thought we would be able to avoid this unpleasant side effect. Looks like not. Unfortunately, this makes going back in for the next round that much harder.

He has another treatment in two weeks. The following week (three weeks from yesterday) he will have another CT scan. Again, we are praying that the scan will show obvious shrinkage. We are also hoping that we will get some encouraging results from the DNA tests they are running on his biopsy samples. It may be that we will have more options for treatment if the cancer has not mutated in a particular way. So much to take in...

I just wanted to update you all on how he is doing. We could really use your prayers this week as he is finishing up this round. It's a drag. It's hard not being able to do anything to make it better for him. As usual he doesn't complain. He remains our hero.