Today is the day I've been waiting for

Scan on left is screen from prior lung scan.
Right is today's lung scan.  Cancer is the white dots.

Today I have great news to share.  The new drug is definitely improving my condition.  Today I had an MRI scan of the brain that showed no lesions visible and no sign of growth.  I had a CT scan of the lungs that showed significantly reduced volume of lesions and shrinkage in the remaining lesions in the lungs. My bloodwork showed further improvement in the tumor markers as well as good results along all the other measures.  The results were just amazing in such a short time.  I’ve been on Tagrisso for all of 7 weeks.

I did have one other MRI of my lower spine since I’ve had numbness in my left foot and calf for a couple of months.  There is some irregularity in the bundle of nerves at the end of the spine that Dr. Bonomi thinks is similar to the irregularities I had in my brain’s meningeal lining in mid-2014 so there may be some cancer there.  It may also dissipate over time with this drug but it also may be permanent.  They really don’t know.  They don’t think it will get worse.  If this is the sole remnant of cancer over time, I can live with it.

The process for accessing and distributing the drugs isn’t fully worked out yet, so we will likely have to make one more trip to Lansing to get my next supply.  After that, Rush should be ready to distribute it.

More good news.  Irene is absolutely certain that insurance will cover the drug for me since I am already on it, although there may be some kind of co-pay and we don’t yet know what that would be.  This is a huge relief for us.  I’m sure the co-pay will be far more manageable than the retail cost of $12,750 per month!

We are starting our Thanksgiving celebration early this year!

Thanks to all of you for your ongoing support – it really does make a huge difference!

The miracle drug is now FDA approved!

The drug I have been taking since October 2 by driving to Lansing, Michigan has been approved at last by the FDA.  So just in time for winter storms, I will no longer have to take that long drive and can get the drug, now called Tagrisso, near home.  I am really happy.

But it comes at a price...

The news is saying that Astra-Zenica is charging $12,750 per month for the drug.  I am hopeful our insurance will cover it.  If it doesn't, our savings will get tapped out quickly.  Let's hope it doesn't come to that.  It shouldn't since insurance covered the Tarceva I was taking before, which was a bargain at $18,000 or so every 3 months!

The drug seems to be working really well.  The tumor markers in my blood have gone way down and all my other blood measures like red and white blood cell counts are back in the normal range.  Next Monday is scan day with both MRI to brain and CAT to lungs so we'll see what Tagrisso has done to reduce the tumors in those places.

I think it will be a very Happy Thanksgiving with a lot to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.