Where to begin... when I last wrote, everything seemed to be going according to plan. We were waiting for Shane to start the clinical trial, mentally preparing ourselves for the next phase of our journey. We were set to begin on a Tuesday, just waiting for the final approvals. Shane received a phone call on the Thursday night before from the oncologist letting him know that he did not meet the requirements for the clinical trial. Shane broke his leg 13 yrs ago and he has a wound there from his compound fracture. The drug company was afraid that the "surgical wound " may open up as a side effect of the drug so therefore he was deemed ineligible. We were shocked to say the least. For two years all we have been told was to get into this clinical trial and then for it to be yanked away at the last minute was a big blow! We tried challenging the decision to no avail. To me it was such a slap in the face. So now we were back to square one yet again.
We went back to Baltimore to meet with the oncologist to discuss other treatment options for Shane. There were a few that were presented and one trial that just opened up at Hopkins. This drug trial is in Phase II and is called Pazopanib. It is similar to the other drug in that it is supposed to shrink existing tumors and hopefully keep any growth from happening. What is great about this drug study is that there is no placebo involvement. Shane is guaranteed to get a drug! There are some nasty side effects and we of course will deal with them in stride.
We will begin next week, which means going to Baltimore weekly for a month and then once a month after that. In 2-3 months we should know if the drug is working or not. We will be talking to the kids about this soon and hope they have some understanding of how brave their Daddy is and how hard he is fighting.
I also must say how lucky we are to have the most amazing and loving friends and family. Thank you for your never ending support!