Tumor vaccine

When we get 12 posted comments on one entry, it tells me that I need to write a new entry. We are still in Wenatchee, wishing we had an apartment in Missoula. Glenda is trying, and the complex we'd like to go into has a waiting list for ground floor apartments. We are going stir crazy here. There is very little room so it's hard to find anything to do other than be on the computer, watch TV, read or listen to music. Wayne really needs to have a place to work on his quilts. He hasn't done anything on them in months.

I don't know if I ever mentioned the tumor vaccine that I read about. My cousin, Marrisha, spotted the article on CNN. It was about a man who had inoperable brain tumors and who underwent a procedure that worked. The doctor went in and took a piece of the tumor. Then he used it to make a vaccine for that specific type of cancer, re-injected it, and a year and a half later, the man had no tumors in his brain.

So I wrote to the doctor, hoping that he might still be doing that trial and that Wayne might be eligible. The doctor is in San Fransisco, and we both have family in the area. The doctor wrote back and said he'd have his assistant triage us, but what we got was a list of trials going on. There is a trial for the vaccine and it is specifically for patients with metastatic, non small cell, adneo carcinoma lung cancer, which had spread to the brain. Bingo! That's Wayne. However, the study is in Tampa Florida, so we are not sure we can do that, even if he were accepted.
But I am going to write to them anyway, and see what we can do. If it's meant to be, the way will show itself.

Meanwhile, Wayne is doing okay. He tires really easily and spends a great deal of time lying down, listening to music on his MP3 player. Boy what that the best investment I ever made! He has a lot of songs on it, and it saves him from being totally bored. The tiredness is called cancer fatigue. It stems from the disease as well as the treatment. Our friend Denise went through it when she had chemo two years ago. She said that it was horrible because she couldn't really sleep, but she was so tired all she could do was lie there. She wasn't able to watch TV or movies because she couldn't concentrate well enough to follow along. This seems to be true for Wayne as well. He either sits outside and watches cars go by or he is lying down listening to music. And sometimes he falls asleep. But you don't have to concentrate when you listen to music, so it really is the thing that makes it easier for Wayne.

For Denise, the tiredness hit following each chemo treatment, but for Wayne, it seems to have hit following his radiation. He did great all through it, but afterward he has been really tired. Also, I think they started the chemo two weeks earlier than originally planned because his tumors hadn't shrunk much. So he didn't really get that recovery time he needed in between. But he doesn't complain. He just accepts what is happening and uses his energy to be positive and fight.

He is up for finding out more about the vaccine trial in Tampa. I will write more about it when I hear back from them. Meanwhile, thanks to everyone for your prayers love and comments. Keep them coming. Wayne really loves hearing all of them.