Sunday October 26

Sorry its been so long it seems like its just been one thing after another first I had my surgery then I had my test and drinking that stuff for my catscan made me sick,then I got a real bad cold where I lost my voice for about a week,but I think I'm better now,for awhile anyway.
I got all my test results back and they found some spots in my chest,neck,lymphnodes under my arm,and brain.The ones in my brain the doctor's not sure what they are because they are so small and they keep comming up and then going away.The scans show that the ones I already had have grown and all the ones under my skin that I can feel but the scans don't show have grown to.
I was going to get to try to do treaments every other week,but since my scans came back like they did I am going to keep going once a week.The second batch of the drug that I got the doctor thought that if he froze the drug it would keep better,since all of my scans came back the way they did and all the ones under my skin have grown also I started last Thursday with a new batch and he is not going to freeze it this time,because in the begining when he did not freeze it ,it seemed to be working better.

A Note from the Doctor as of: 09/21/08

Kevin has been seeing us in clinic every week, and I have been monitoring his progress.  In general he has been tolerating the vaccine well.  When he started his injections, he did complain of joint pain. Those symptoms have improved since the initial injections.  To measure the effect of the vaccine we have been monitoring 5 melanoma sites on Kevin’s body which are easily felt under the skin.  Three of the five lesions have completely disappeared.  One is continuing to respond as it shrivels up.  The fifth lesion has not responded and remains at the same size.  We are planning to have this lesion removed to try to find out why it is not responding to the vaccine therapy. 

            Kevin has returned to work and is able to do most of the activities required of him as an electrician, however, I have asked him to refrain from working on high platforms because of his intermittent headaches.  His headaches precede the diagnosis of melanoma.  We have performed an MRI of his head and a lumbar puncture to analyze the spinal fluid.   Findings suggest he has no melanoma spreading to the brain.  It is comforting to know that though Kevin continues to have intermittent headaches, they likely are not from melanoma spreading to the brain. 

            We have also been analyzing antibody titers from his injections.  The purpose of this is to determine how well his immune response is to the stimulation from vaccine injections.  Kevin has had an excellent response and his antibody titers are high.  This means that Kevin’s vaccine injections are stimulating the immune system to respond by producing specific antibodies that are directed against antigens on the melanoma cells.  These antigens are what differentiate melanoma cells from healthy cells in the body. 

            Our vaccine is produced by combining melanoma specific antigens with a carrier molecule so that the body’s immune system will recognize it as foreign.  The carrier molecule is a protein that is found only in crustaceans like crabs.  This allows the body to recognize these proteins as foreign and in the process produce an antibody response that will cross-react with the melanoma antigens that have been coupled to this foreign protein.  Laboratory research showed this theory to be plausible, and the vaccine appears to be working for Kevin. 

Kevin has had CT Scans from head to foot looking to ensure that he does not have any internal organ involvement of his melanoma.  To date, his melanoma has remained only in areas under the skin that we can readily feel.  We are encouraged by his response to the vaccine therapy.  His response, so far, will be characterized as a partial response.  With the removal of the fifth lesion, we will continue to monitor the fourth lesion in the hope that it too will disappear. 

 

Dr. Raj Sadasivan M.D., Ph.D.

Hope Cancer Institute, Inc.

4215 Shawnee Drive

Kansas City, Kansas 66106

 

Phone: 913-236-6986

Fax:    913-236-9681

Thursday September 11

Last time I talked to you I was going to get a spinal tap and I did and everything came back good there are no cancer cells in my spine. I also did my MRI of the brain this last Saturday and just met with the doctor today and they only found one of the four spots in my brain and it is a little bit smaller than the previous scan so that is very good news. I have always had one tumor that has not responded to the treatment and has never shrunk and has slowly grown when the rest of them have either went away,shrunk or did not change so now the doctor wants me to have surgery to get it removed so I guess that is the next step.
Tami and Rae it is always nice to hear from you since we never get to see each other its been along time,thanks for the thoughts and prayers.

Sunday August 24

I'm sorry its been so long since my last entry,but for awhile everything seemed to be going great and the doctor decided I would just do a booster shot every 3 months so there was'nt a whole lot to tell.Then when I was only A couple weeks away from getting my booster shot I found another spot and started having dizzy spells every so often.I then went and talked to the doctor and he decided to start treatments back up for once a week.A week or two after starting treaments back up I found a couple more spots and the doctor decided to have me get an MRI to see what was causing my dizzy spells.When I got my results back they found a small spot on brain and then a month later they had me do another MRI and they found three more small spots,but they said they were so small that the scan could have missed them the first time.After a couple weeks into the treaments I have'nt found any more new spots. He is going to have me do another MRI in a few weeks to see if any thing has changed.Since I am still having dizzy spells sometimes, this thursday I'm going to go get a spinal tap to see if it is in my spine or not,so when I get the results back I will let you know as soon as possible.Again I'm sorry its been so long I will try to do alot more updates.Thanks for all you support it means alot to me.

Updates

New posts will be coming soon. 

Bulk of Treatments are Over

Well, I have been waiting on one particular test to come back before I posted a blog, but I decided I would just post one.  First order of business: thanks to everyone who came to the benefit auction in Richmond, it was a huge success.  I had a great time, and I think everybody else had a little fun as well.  It is a great help to my family and I, and as I move forward fighting this disease it will help in taking some of the financial pressures off my plate.  I am amazed at the support our small town is able to offer and am truly and greatly appreciative.          

The treatment is beginning to look more and more like a success.  The bulk of the treatment is over, and I will begin receiving booster shots in about a month. My disease has stopped progressing altogether, as is evidenced by all of the different scans they have taken, and some of my tumors have actually shrunk and are beginning to shrivel up and disappear.  I was having a new tumor develop every week or two before I began treatment.  It has been about a month since I finished the bulk of the treatments, and I am able to work through the day, and have a social life again.  When I stop being active at the end of the day, though, my body still gets sore and achy.        

We are waiting on a test to see how my immune system is responding to the treatment.  The greater the immune response, the less often I need booster shots.  The hope is that my immune system has been sufficiently stimulated to continue fighting the disease even after the treatments are complete.  It is similar to other vaccines in that booster shots are needed to keep the immune system “informed” of the disease’s presence.  

Second Week of Round Two

Hello Everyone, 

The weekend has past and I am still trucking along.  I thought each treatment had been treating me better than the first one that made me so sick this second round, but on Sunday it hit me again.  I am still sore in my joints and achy in my muscles, but I have been able to sleep without night sweats and my skin doesn’t burn like it did last week.  Its weird, the night after I receive my treatments I get a bad headache and then I start feeling badly.  Today I still have a headache and my joints are sore, but I feel better than I did on chemo.  I had a treatment today and hopefully I will start feeling better. 

On a more positive note, despite feeling sick, my disease seems to be in good shape.  No new tumors have shown up, and the tumors that I have haven’t progressed. On Friday we are going to measure to see if any of my tumors have shrunk, so I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.  Thanks for your prayers and support; it definitely helps when I am feeling ill.