Hi Everyone,
We've heard people have been logging in and wondering what has been happening as it's been a while since I last put something on the blog.
Basically we're in a 'holding' stage. Ray had an ultrasound and PET scan a few weeks ago. They only confirmed what the other scans showed, just in more detail.
At the moment we're waiting to hear back from the clinical trial doctor. His current trial has just finished and he is waiting for results to come back. This will determine when he starts his new trial. If it isn't for another 6 weeks or so, he thinks it may be better for Ray to start the normal chemo treamtment in Bendigo. He was going to speak to Dr Warren in Bendigo and let us know the outcome of their talks this week. So we're just waiting, waiting again.
In the meantime, Ray is back at work and daily gaining back his pre-op strength. He even did a bit of gardening last weekend.
Hopefully I'll be able to post something after this weekend.
Love Marg

At our appointment with Dr Warren last Friday, we discussed 2 clinical trials which he thought would be suitable for Ray. One involved injecting the blood stream with small capsules of radiation that, hopefully, would be delivered to the liver and radiate the lesions there. We opted to go for the other trail which compliments the standard chemotherapy treatment with a newer drug called Avastin. The negatives of this will be that Ray will be a guinea pig for the possible side affects of this new drug as well as the possible side affects of the standard chemotherapy. This treatment with be systemic rather than just targeting the liver which is why we opted for this trial.
The trial is being run at the Peter McCallum Cancer Research Centre in Melbourne, so it will mean Ray going down there for treatment. The wait to get on the trial is between 6 to 8 weeks.
Latest scans have revealed that the lesions on the liver have only grown slightly and Ray remains a-symptomatic and looking and feeling well.
Hoping all is well with you.
Marg