A little bit louder and a little bit worse

Hi folks.  Not too much information today, but we're watching some things.  Marye finished the second round of the Xeloda last week, and this is her "off" week.  But she's been complaining of some side-effects from the drug that have been getting worse.  No need to get into too much detail here, but she's been feeling generally lousy.  So, we saw the oncologist, whose first impression was that Marye looks really good and she's ready to increase the dosage.  But Marye really doesn't want to do that.  In fact, she wants to drop this therapy altogether and try something else.  I have my own thoughts on that, but, I have to keep in mind that no matter how effective the chemo may be, we still have to balance the side effects.  If Marye feels terrible all the time, what good is that?

Anyway, Dr. Riley is not convinced that it's the Xeloda that's causing these side effects, but decided to keep Marye off of it for one more week to see.  If Marye starts to feel a little better, than we can assume that the Xeloda is to blame and either reduce the dosage or change drugs.  The other question is if the Xeloda is even effective against the cancer.  Of course, that's really the most important thing.  So, we've got a bone and CT scan scheduled for Nov. 15, then an appointment with Dr. Riley to talk about the next step.  If she goes off the Xeloda, the next drug will be another infusion.  It's a two weeks on/one week off schedule, so we'll have to deal with that.  But until the CT scan, we just have to sit tight.

That's all for now.  Unless there is some change in the next few weeks, I probably won't post until Nov. 20th.