3rd Update: MD Anderson

January 31, 2017

Houston, we've had a problem. Wednesday January 31st, MD Anderson doctor's appointment in Houston was a bit disappointing. Chemotherapy is the suggested way to go here for now too.

At the moment they suggest to do a modified FLOFOX chemotherapy regiment, TFOX. It's 2 of the 3 drugs that MSK uses and the 3rd one is different. It uses 2 of the 4 ones UM will use, it has 1 less and 1 different one. They also want to do a special drug treatment to stall if not cure his bone lesions.

They were not very optimistic, giving my dad about a year to live, saying maybe 3 years, and in rare cases 5 years. They didn't seem to have data beyond that. They did say that some patients have lived for many years in remission although because it's metastatic they don't use the words remission nor cure because it'll keep coming back as on going thing forever.

They talked about future possibilities for immunotherapy, radiation, etc, but that for now our best/only option at the moment here is the modified standard chemotherapy treatment. They think he's a strong candidate for this type of chemotherapy and expect to see good results. The goal is to keep the cancer from growing with hopes of reversing its effects. They think they'll be able to perhaps get rid of the main tumor site, but he wasn't sure about the rest.

We were also happy to hear that they have complementary/integrative medicine. Although, I was a bit let down by the pharmacists who spoke to us about my dad's prescribed chemotherapy treatment and said not to believe in it. I did like the social workers holistic approach and that they were all for it. It combines different aspects of the mind and body into helping you feel stronger and getting more energy while having less pain during the cancer treatment. It's non-mainstream practices used in addition to conventional medicine. They are things like herbs and supplements, acupuncture, acupressure, massages, yoga, meditation, exercise and fitness classes, martial arts, music therapy, art therapy, etc. I like that this treats the whole person and not just the disease. Studies have shown that cancer patients who receive integrative therapies while in the hospital have less pain and anxiety. Massage therapy may lead to short term improvements in pain and mood in patients with advanced cancer. Yoga may relieve the persistent fatigue. So we're excited to begin the various treatments with this approach.

We liked the doctors and staff here, everyone is so nice. However, the facilities seem old, smell horrible, and it's a pretty sad and depressing place. While they do have a lot of amenities for patients everything comes at a very high cost. We weren't thrilled with the people at MSK, but there facilities are impressive as is their reputation. UM fell somewhere in the middle, but it's close to home, so logistically it makes the most sense especially since the treatment will be full strength standard it doesn't really matter where it's administered.

My dad is starting to have trouble swallowing soft foods that aren't thinned out, so lots of purees, soups, cream of wheat, eggs, & protein shakes like Boost and Ensure. He has to start treatment next week, so he doesn't get worse and the medication can start to shrink the tumor.

We have a lot of thinking to do in very little time as my dad has to start treatment ASAP. We have some more calls to make and questions to ask. At the moment we're leaning towards doing the treatment at UM'S Sylvester Center and having the doctors at MSK and MD Anderson as consults along the way. Hopefully they'll agree to look at scans and give opinions on progress every 2 months or so. Each doctor has their own specialties and are equally great in different areas. Hopefully by their powers combined they can save my daddy!

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