1.) As of 9/3/08, I now have 2 new tumors, #3 and #4.
• A 3rd new tumor (4 mm x 7 mm) was discovered on 8/20/08 on my Corpus Callosum.
• A 4th new tumor was found just 2 weeks later on 9/3/08 in the left anterior frontal lobe. It was growing at an even quicker rate than the 3rd new tumor, already the size of 1.5 x 3 centimeters.
2.) I no longer use Carboplatin + VP-16 IV-Based Chemotherapy.
• I used this drug from 3/25/08 to 8/25/08. It no longer works now that I have these 2 new tumors.
• Just completed 6 cycles of this chemotherapy. The benefit vs. toxicity point had been reached.
• This IV-based chemotherapy helped to reduce tumor size by 90%.
3.) Radiation
• 6 weeks of hyper-fractionated radiation and low-dose chemotherapy at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) all began on 1/16/08.
• This was aggressive radiation. Suddenly, 80% of this brain tumor was trying to repopulate.
4.) Two Brain Surgeries
• A second brain surgery with Dr. Patrick J. Kelly was done on 12/27/07.
• The first brain surgery was done on 5/5/05.
5.) Hematology
• Over 6 cycles over Carboplatin + VP-16, my blood counts have held up. I had $7,000 Neulasta shots every 4 weeks to maintain my White Blood Cell Counts. These shots helped in this effort.
Click HERE for Hematology Analysis
6.) Epilepsy Symptoms
• There is 1 Simple Partial Seizure (SPS) every 3.5 days. The more I heal, the more this continues to improve.
• We are at the point where my hematologist, Dr. Steven V. Pacia, wants to decrease to amount of anti-seizure medication I am taking, simply based upon the following improvement in SPS data (as of 8/16/08):
