Got It!

Yesterday was our round-trip visit to Lansing, Michigan to obtain the new cancer drug.  Everything went very smoothly and I took my first AZD9291 pill before bed last night. It might take some adjusting to because my stomach felt pretty off last night in bed and you can’t take anything one hour before or two hours after ingesting the pill.  Hopefully, it will work and all this will be worth it.

The ride was 3.5 hours to Michigan and 4 hours home.  A very easy ride.  The staff at Sparrow Hospital is very nice and pretty informal.  It was comfortable to be there.  I was there for a total 3.5 hours.  We arrived way ahead of our scheduled appointment so had to just wait around for a while.  They were able to take us a little early so that helped move things along.  Once at the appointment, most of it was going over paperwork and reviewing what possible side effects I might get, drug interactions, signs of trouble, etc.  After we got through everything, all the paperwork gets e-mailed to Astra-Zeneca’s regional offices and approved and then my new oncology nurse Tracy walks in the door back at Sparrow  with a three-week supply of the drugs.  It was a long day, but a pretty easy one.

We’re back in Lansing in three weeks, Oct. 23.  They want to check me over and make sure I’m doing well with the AZD9291 and then I get a six-week supply until I have to come again after that visit.  It will be every six weeks from then on until the FDA approves the drug and then I can get it from Illinois or anywhere else.

I'm so happy to finally get on this drug.  I continue to hear good results from those who have been involved.  Thank you for the support and good wishes of all of you out there who have been sending me messages.  Please keep them coming!  :) 

Also "thank you" to the staff at both Rush University Medical Hospital and Sparrow Hospital for their help in coordinating the logistics to make this possible.

Putting my Faith in the Sparrow

I finally received an appointment with Sparrow Hospital to get the new AZD9291 drug in Lansing on Friday, October 2.  And I am very excited to learn that I won’t spend more than a couple of hours at the hospital.  No scans, no blood work, no tests.  Just some consultations with the oncologist and nurse.  I can go to and from Lansing in a day!  Good thing, since it is Homecoming weekend for Michigan State University that weekend and there are no hotel rooms available!

I will have to have blood tests done near home each week and have the results faxed to Sparrow and then go back to get a refill three weeks after the first one.  After that, it would be one trip every six weeks or whenever the FDA approves the drug for general use.  When that happens, I will be able to fill the prescription through Rush and right to home. 

Let’s hope the good news keeps coming!  And let the healing begin!

DonnaLee

Slow Down ...and Wait!

It was a very long day today.  I left the house at 7:35 a.m. today and got home from the hospital at 6:15 p.m.  A lot of that time was spent in waiting rooms.  It seems Rush may not be the best name for that hospital because it certainly doesn’t seem like they are in any hurry to get things done.

Dr. Bonomi is not feeling an urgency to switch to the new treatment.  He is framing the situation that today started a new 3-week cycle of cancer treatment.  Dr. Bonomi will work with the doctor in Lansing to figure out how to taper off the Tarceva  I’m still taking once a week and add in the ASD9291 over the next 3-week cycle.  After my first visit there, I will have to come back after another 3 weeks.  After the first two visits, I can then go every 6 weeks from that point on. 

The Lansing hospital wanted an EKG for my heart, so I stayed even longer today to get that over with.  This drug better have the pay off  I’ve been hearing about for all this hassle!