A Chanukah miracle

Chanukah is a holiday that celebrates miracles that occurred a long time ago.

There is the military victory of the Jewish Maccabees against the huge Greek army and a seemingly insignificant miracle of one small cruse of oil that lasted eight days. 

We commemorate the miracle of the oil by lighting the menorah. True it was a miracle, but it was just an extension of nature, similar to your cell phone battery almost dying, but lasting until you find your charger.

Often we think of miracles necessarily being against nature, a small untrained army victorious over a huge military presence, but most miracles occur everyday. 

They are an extension of what happens naturally, and are often taken for granted by us. We must work on recognizing the miracles around us and viewing then as a gift from God.

This week I have had my own Chanukah miracle.

On Wednesday, the first day of Chanukah, I had an appointment to get my latest test results.

As the previous scans in November by lungs and brains were totally free of any tumors, as were all my internal organs.

An additional test, called a blood biopsy was done. My lung cancer was not only present in the tumors but also in my blood, causing gene mutation that helped pinpoint treatments. In May of 2017 my blood contained three tumor friendly gene mutations; EGFR, MET-C, and TP53. After being on the newest clinical trial for six months, I have had a 100% response to the gene mutation. My newest test results show no cancer loving DNA mutation in my blood.

I might not have explained it correctly or clearly, but this is truly a Chanukah miracle, an extension of a natural occurrence. With the help of my oncologist, research team and all of your prayers and good wishes I have truly experienced my own Chanukah miracle. 

I hope to continue with this clinical trial and hope to continue seeing miracles everyday.

Continued Great News

My latest scans, done ten days ago showed that there was absolutely no metastasis in the brain.
All the previous tumors in the lungs have also shrunk into oblivion.
This means that the clinical trial medication is working well.
The bones of the skull and spine show unchanged osseous metastasis, but the doctors feel it is just  the bone metastasis healing. In either case, they are not increasing nor causing any pain, so we are on the right track.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and good thoughts.

Great New Year

I just returned from the doctor to get the results of my most CT scan and MRI.
Thank God since starting my clinical trial on June 27th all the tumors on my brain and lungs have disappeared.
The only cancer remaining is a little on my bones and skull and those thank God do not give me any pain.
The side effects are manageable and I am thrilled with results.
Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes.
This being the eve of the Jewish new year, I wish each and every one of you a year of blessings, joy and good health.

It's working

I started the new clinical trial meds on June 27th.
AZD9291 and AZD6094. I am on this specific trial because the new biopsy showed a new mutation of a gene called MET-C and the AZD6094 is a MET-C inhibitor.
I had a CT scan and MRI to se if the new meds are working and all the tumors have either decreased in size or remained the same. 
They will continue to do scans every six weeks to make sure these drugs continue working.

On another note, the old clinical trial meds caused me to have constant tachycardia and I was put on beta-blockers. Now that I am off the old trial, I was able to get off my heart medication.
The only side effect of this regimen is fatigue but I am already used to this new normal. However I do miss taking advantage of all New York City has to offer.

Thanks again for all your prayers and good wishes.

Thank God

I am so excited!
When the clinical trial medication I was on stopped working, a biopsy was done and the preliminary results showed that I was not a candidate for any clinical trials or targeted therapy. I was therefore scheduled for traditional chemo, which I was to start today.
I went in to start my chemo regiment today and found out that my final biopsy results showed a new mutation of a gene called MET.
This means I may qualify for a new clinical trial of a targeted therapy combo of two new drugs, AZD9291 and AZD6094.
So no chemo today, but I should start the clinical trial within two weeks.
This is great because targeted therapy drugs that block the growth and spread of cancer by interfering with specific molecules ("molecular targets") that are involved in the growth, progression, and spread of cancer and are thought to be more efficient than traditional chemo.
I owe you thanks for all your prayers, there is no question that your efforts changed the course of my treatment.

Prayers needed

I am starting the new chemo cocktail tomorrow.
Carboplatin, Pemetrexed and Bevacizumab.
Please pray that it works.

A brief lesson and update

Some people have asked that I explain the basic types of treatment for stage four lung cancer.
I was diagnosed with stage four non-small cell adencarcinoma that has spread throughout my body.
There are three basic types of chemotherapeutic treatment for cancers that have spread widely throughout the body, before any treatments start.
1- targeted therapy
2- immunotherapy
3- standard chemo.

I started off with standard treatment and that worked for a short while. There are dozens of combos of standard chemo and that will always be available to me.

Targeted therapy is used when the tumor is tested for common gene mutations (such as in the EGFR, ALK, or ROS1 genes). If one of these genes is mutated in your cancer cells, treatment will likely be a targeted therapy drug:

* For tumors that have the ALK gene change, crizotinib (Xalkori) is often the first treatment.
* For people whose cancers have certain changes in the EGFR gene, the anti-EGFR drugs erlotinib (Tarceva), gefitinib (Iressa), or afatinib (Gilotrif) may be used as the first treatment.
* For people whose cancers have changes in the ROS1 gene, an ALK inhibitor such as crizotinib might be used.

My tumor was positive for the EGFR gene and I was on a clinical trial of super high doses Tarceva starting April 2016 for 13 months until it stopped working. While it worked Tarceva shrunk and eliminated most of my tumors.
By stopping to work, I mean that they found a bunch of new tumors, primarily along my spine.

They redid the tests again to try find any new mutation that will respond to a different targeted therapy drug and the initial results showed no new gene change. So unless further tests show a gene mutation, targeted therapy is off the table for now.


My tumor cells might were  also be tested for the PD-L1 protein. Tumors with higher levels of PD-L1 are more likely to respond to certain immunotherapy drugs, so treatment with pembrolizumab (Keytruda) might have be an option. People with the EGFR mutation that I have usually do not respond to immunotherapy. Ironically, immunotherapy works best on heavy smokers. I will be a candidate for immunotherapy if all other treatment options fail.

At this point I will return to standard chemo, as long as it keeps working or my tests indicate a better treatment plan.

The chemo along with all of your prayers and good wishes will let me continue enjoying life to it's fullest.

Thanks to all of you for everything.

update

I have not posted for a while because things were going well.
I feel great and except for the annoying side effects of the Tarceva (chemo) I was able to function.
When I started the clinical trial of Tarceva, (thirteen months ago) they explained to me that it often works for about one year at which point the cancer may get 'smart' and mutate and a new drug will be needed to fight the cancer.
On Tuesday I had my regular brain MRI and torso CT scan.
Yesterday I got the results and it seems that the Tarceva is no longer working.  Thank God there is no new growth on the brain. However, they found small tumors along my spine and other bone areas.
I will go for a spine MRI tomorrow for further examination and will be scheduled for a new biopsy. They will look to see if there are new genetic markers that will respond to a targeted therapy.
They will then change my regiment accordingly.
This may seem like bad news, but the fact is that there are great advancements in lung cancer and there are many medical paths to have a life full of quality.
I feel blessed to have so many family and friends praying for my good health.
I will keep you posted on new test results and treatment.

Continued good health

I had a CT scan and brain MRI yesterday.
The results are very good. Nothing has grown since the last set of scans.
Tarveca is really keeping the metastatic cancer from spreading any further.
I feel great and I am able to enjoy doing things that I planned on doing during my retirement, like spending time with family and traveling.
Thanks again everyone for your prayers and good wishes.