Rollercoaster!

Hi all,

I've been otherwise occupied the last few weeks (visitors! my 39th birthday! parties! etc!) but I do have a lot to report.

I haven't started the hell-zit chemo, aka Erbitux, yet. In fact, last week when I went to my chemo appointment, they sent me home. (First time ever for that. What a strange feeling it is, to leave without getting your weekly poison. It was a reluctant 'Get out of jail free' card. I didn't want chemo, but I NEED the junk, right?)

So, why? Well, in order for the Erbitux to work, a person has to be classified as "KRAS wild type".  If you aren't "wild", the drug just won't work on you. You learn whether or not you're "wild" by doing genetic testing. I've had some of that done. However, I didn't recall hearing anything about "wild type" from that report.

Thanks to a letter I received from THIS BLOG (Hi, Barb!), I learned about the Erbitux/KRAS wild type connection. We asked my doc to confirm I was "wild". He said I was. But, upon further review, he could not actually find documentation that I had been tested for this. SO, he re-ordered the test. They had to pull my old tumor block out from its icy storage place and do the test. I'm still waiting to hear the results.

Bottom line: If the results don't show me as "wild type", I won't get the effective-yet-awful-zitty chemo.  It's a hard thing to say, but I DO want to get that chemo. Because it's supposed to WORK.

Hopefully I will find out soon. I've been waiting a week for the answer. It's hard to wait, knowing your tumors are only growing as you do wait. If I end up negative, I will move down the line to the next chemo, most likely one that is statistically LESS effective. You can imagine how that makes me feel.

What a hellride, this.