Hard to believe it’s been just a little over 12 months since we first heard the scary words metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Since then, it has certainly been a journey that has led my family toward absorbing a lot of frightening information; meeting challenges; living lives full of hope and love; and being forever grateful for having a cache of supportive, praying family and friends standing with us in this battle.

This is a lengthy update, so for those of you who are bottom line type people here are the main issues/concerns:

• That the new drug treatment (Sutent) will work to reduce the tumors on my dad's skull and slow the progression of disease lurking anywhere else
• That he will experience little to no side effects from the Sutent
• That the radiation treatments to his lungs will get rid of the two existing tumors and the third suspicious shadow will resolve
• That there will be successful treatment available for his eye edema at Duke University
• That my parents will be revived physically, emotionally and mentally.

For those that like more detail - read on:

This past Friday, we learned several new things. My dad's team of doctors reviewed the scans from his latest MRI, and the consensus is that the one spot that was thought to be in his brain is in fact on the skull and NOT in the brain. Needless to say, this was good news to hear. Yet once again, our excitement over good news was tempered by finding out some other unwelcome news. Where last week we thought that these new spots on his skull would be treated with additional gamma knife, we have been informed that this will not be possible. In order to perform the gamma knife radiation, a guiding device that resembles a halo is placed on my dad's head. However, in the exact spot where the halo would be placed, there is new bone growth regenerating on his skull. This new bone is soft, and it has been decided that it is too dangerous to run the risk of puncturing the bone with the halo and causing damage to his brain. Consequently, we now find ourselves at a new junction.

After careful consideration, it has been decided that it is time to start my dad on an oral anticancer drug called Sutent. For those so inclined, information on sutent can be found at http://www.sutent.com/. In a nutshell, Sutent is a drug designed to block tumor cell growth by targeting and cutting off the blood supply that feeds the tumors. The overall goal is to stabilize the cancer and slow the progression of the disease. (Insert my layman's disclaimer here!) Treatment involves cycles of 4 weeks on the medicine and then two weeks off. There are numerous potential side effects, however most of them can be managed fairly well. We hope that my dad will be fortunate and experience few, if any. Many people have seen good results with Sutent and it goes without saying that our hope is that my dad will be among the ones who have achieved successful results.

The last radiation treatment for the two spots on my dad's lungs will be this week. There is still a suspicious shadow on his other lung that is being observed; a decision on whether to go ahead and zap it with radiation or to wait and see if the Sutent has any effect on it is forth coming.

Last update is on my Dad's eye. It continues to be very swollen and bothersome. He is in the process of setting up an appointment at Duke University Medical Center to see if they may have any Neuro-Ophthalmology treatment options available for him.
My parents have had so many appointments lately and have had so much information to process. Not surprisingly, they are weary. Yet they remain committed to each other and their will to face all of their challenges head on. They are an inspiration. ~
Tami and family