How goes the Parp trial swanky?

[Kimberly Lewis]

Been watching for an update and hoping you are well. Kim

[swanky]

Kim - thanks for checking on me! All goes well, I am 6 months in and gearing up for my 3rd round of scans on mon. As part of the trial we have to get scanned every 2 months. My 1st two scans were clear so I am hoping to keep the trend going LOL. I will post results as soon as I have them. My onc is somewhat at a loss of what to do. The trial's goal is to maintain disease, keep it from progression and best case scenerio shrink the tumors. But in my case it shrank them until they don't show up on scans. So does he take me off the trial and hope all the little buggers are dead? Or does he have me continue just in case? We are looking into whether I can stay on the drug while doing rads...I had my recurrence before I made it to rads. So I guess it is a good dilemma to have, but I am scared to lose it. Anyhoo, still no side effects other than a mild headache that pops up every once in awhile. I asked for an MRI of the brain too because I have never had one and I want to make sure the headaches are definately from tx.

I will update more after my scans. Wish me luck!

Leea

[Mary Anne in TX]

Oh, Leea, that is terrific! I can't wait to hear more great news from your scans! Isn't it hard to decide those whether to keep on going with the drug or "take a chance" on stopping? I'm so excited for you. ma

[Sheila]

Leea
This combo seems to be magic for you....I am so happy...I do know it is hard trying to decide when to "quit" for fear of what will happen.....saying prayers for clean scans for you!

[goops]

WOW - may your good luck continue! Best of luck with your scan.

[caya]

Leea,

Great news that the little buggers have been knocked into oblivion. I guess This Better F*cking work - worked!!

Thanks for posting when you get your scan results back which will show you NED.

all the best
caya

[Soccermom]

Swanky girl,so glad you posted! Please let us know how you are periodically,its so great to be able to root you on!
Marcia

[Margerie]

Swanky,

Glad you are an overachiever in the trial! Best of luck on your scans and keep up the good work!

[Kimberly Lewis]

Thanks for giving such great news. I really am excited about your good progress. Thanks again for keeping us informed and may you continually exceed all expectations!

[Chelee]

That is excellent news. That's great that you have had no nasty side affects...its a major plus but what a difficult decision to be left with...to stop for now, or continue . (That right there would give me a headache.) Good luck on your brain MRI...you will have peace of mind once that comes back clean...and it will. :) Hang in there.

Chelee

[swanky]

Scans were still clean! I didn't get the MRI tho...I still have expanders in and they have a metal port. So CAT scan of brain scheduled for Feb just to be safe. Still no answer regarding doing rads while in trial so we continue as is for now.

[caya]

Great News Swanky!!
Keep up the good work - dare I say it, does this mean you are NED?

all the best
caya

[Kimberly Lewis]

just checking on you again. You are pretty close to my daughters age and she is BRCA positive also... Hoping the trial is a winner. Kim

[Julie2]

Congratulations Swanky. Very happy to hear the good news. Keep it coming.

Julie

[swanky]

Kim - i flunked out of the parp trial a few months ago. After parp alone wiped out the supraclavicle node for almost 9 months the pesky supraclavicle node popped up again. In fact I just had that node surgically removed and am home recovering. I think the PARP was wonderful and they believe it will be even more effective given with chemo. My onc actually asked the study if we could do rads while I was on the study but they quashed that idea...I honestly believe that had we got the go ahead it woold have taken care of the problem. So now I am off to rads and then chemo - xeloda and tykerb.

[Kimberly Lewis]

Well, now I see why you have been on my mind! Sorry that you had to stop. I will be praying that tykerb/xeloda will be the ticket out of any more recurrances! I have a lot of hope for that Parp to be a heavy hitter for us in the future. Take good care of yourself.