Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Plan of Attack

KK's team is on board with the intravenous vitamin C (IVC) therapy. I presented the two schools of thought -- the first being the IVC only approach, the second being the IVC as an adjunct therapy with either Optune (which, as I suspected, is only for adults right now), Low-Dose Naltrexone, or metronomic chemotherapy (a low-dose of chemo given daily rather than a higher dose given on a 5/28 day cycle).

Dr. Manley suggested a specific metronomic antiangiogenic protocol (a combination of drugs given at a low dose that block cancer blood vessel growth) that they have used. This protocol is not known to cure cancer, but it has been shown to slow or stop the progression of some tumors. It has never been used alongside IVC though. 

The protocol includes five drugs. KK is already taking one of the drugs, Celecoxib (Celebrex). We are choosing to use only three of the other four. The protocol usually cycles two chemotherapy drugs to prevent toxicity overload -- taking one chemotherapy drug for 21 days, then the second one for 21 days, then back to the first. The second chemotherapy drug, Etoposide, has been known to cause hair loss, so we have chosen not to use it for KK's "quality of life".

We will begin this protocol next week...or as soon as the insurance approves the drugs.

We started the IVC last Friday and will be going to New Hampshire four times per week for the foreseeable future.

We will most likely have MRIs every eight weeks (instead of twelve) unless it is deemed necessary to have one before that. Thankfully, the team knows me well enough to trust me when I express concern.

As we attack this tumor using weapons like IVC and the antiangiogenic protocol, please don't forget to continue to attack it through prayer!

4 comments:

Matt Bullock said...

We won't forget and we are praying! We love you both very much!

Terri said...

Covering you both in prayer always - much love from all of us.

Judy Bleau said...

Yes! Prayer!

Heidi Peterson said...

Praying every day