what we've all been waiting for...

this week, on our trip to MD Anderson, james was scheduled to have 2 scans done, to see how the cancer has responded to the clinical trial. he opted out of doing the MRI, because laying on the hard table for 3 hours would just worsen the back pain he's been feeling for the last 2 weeks. he did do the PET scan, which would give the doctors plenty of information on how he is responding.

and the good news is...
THE CANCEROUS ACTIVITY IS RESPONDING TO THIS TREATMENT! AND FOR NOW, IT IS UNDER CONTROL.

we never expected that this treatment would completely get rid of the cancer, but to see that it has had a positive response in his body is wonderful.

in the report they gave to us, there are 4 or 5 different areas of disease that have seen an actual decrease in cancerous activity! they measure the level of cancerous activity with the term SUV- here is a little more info on that:
{Measuring the SUV (Standardized Uptake Value) is a semi-quantitative way to assess the activity in a given focus. It represents the amount of activity in the focus relative to the activity in the other (normal) areas of the body. Typically, the SUV value of metastatic lesion is above 2.5.}

in james' report, here are some of the results, which i think is helpful to see just the number decreases:
*the previously noted focal area of moderately increased activity in the left sacrum is shown again with decreased SUV from 6.4 to 5.7.
*the lesion in the right iliac tuberosity (hip bone) also shows decreased SUV from 5.7 to 4.4.
*there is no new focal area of abnormal increased activity in the bones.

this is fantastic news!
all of the travel and treatment and uncomfortable side effects have been worth it! this treatment is causing the cancerous activity to decrease, which is what we hoped for.

his disease will never be cured, so we are always just working on controlling it. and this is showing to do just that.

now, they would love for him to continue on the trial in houston, because he is a success story. that would make the dr. and research team very happy! but, we are going to try to see if his dr. at KU Med would be able to administer the treatment to him at home, so he wouldn't have to continue to travel each week. there is a lot to figure out, with insurance and his doctor's decision on whether or not he feels comfortable doing this. you see, the combination of drugs he is on is not fda approved. both drugs individually are, but the combination is something that they are testing. so we will have to see if his dr. would be comfortable doing both drugs together, to allow him to continue on the treatment at home. again, we will have to see if insurance would cover it, if it is no longer a MD Anderson supported trial. it will take awhile to get this figured out, but we think we know how to go about it.... think, being the key word. we all know insurance isn't the easiest thing to work with!

so, for now, we are rejoicing in the success that this shows.
we thank you for praying for us and for believing the best with us.
we continue to ask for your prayers as we go into this next step of deciding what to do.
of course, we will keep you updated with anything new we figure out.
thanks again, for being a HUGE part of this journey with us!!!