Dear Church Family & Friends,
I'm glad to report that Donna continues to do extremely well! I just wanted to bring ya'll up to date with what has transpired over the past few weeks.
We met with Donna's brain surgeon, Dr. Princewill Ehirim a few weeks back. He has begun to allude to possibly stopping the chemo when Donna is 2 years out from her diagnosis. He is even thinking that that perhaps we could consider stopping the Dilantin, which is the anti-seizure drug that Donna takes daily.
In the meantime, we have had several emails from Donna's website (www.coed4.org) where folks have written in to ask how long Donna plans on being on chemo. As it turns out, several have similar histories - diagnosis of a GBM, resection, radiation and Temodar chemotherapy for a year or so. We had one write to tell us that they are being treated at Duke and this is what they are doing.
This past Friday, we met with Donna's oncologist Dr. Lyod. We mentioned to him that we have had a few people contact us who are stopping after a year. As he explained, since there is no protocol, he feels that this is one course of action for some to take. Basically, it will ultimately be up to Donna as to when she will stop.
Donna's blood counts remain high. However, she has been having some fatigue as of late. While meeting with Dr. Loyd, he had a pharmacy student with him. While speaking with them, she was surprised to hear that Donna is on Dilantin & Prozac at the same time.
As it turns out, Dilantin makes you fatigued. Prozac inhibits the breaking down of the metabolite of Dilantin. A metabolite is the byproduct chemical that is made by the body once it breaks down the molecules of the original chemical. Essentially, the body takes chemical x and turns it into chemical y.
In Donna's case, it appears that the metabolite of the Dilantin could be making Donna feel crummy. When she was feeling crummy, we increased the Prozac - not realizing that this increase in Prozac is actually making Donna feel more fatigued! It can become a vicious cycle. Therefore, we will be weaning Donna off of the Prozac.
As far as if and when Donna will be coming off of the Temodar chemotherapy, we are still leaving that with the Lord - when He tells both of us that Donna needs to come off of the chemo, then she'll stop. Until then, we'll stay the course.
Dr. Lyod also said that it would be OK for Donna to stay off of the chemo for another two weeks. She will be starting round 14 around April 26.
Everything else is going fine. Donna is at a women's retreat with our church this weekend. Next weekend she'll be going with the ladies that she works with to the mountains in North Georgia. Next month she'll be speaking at a Mother-Daughter dinner in west Atlanta.
We continue to have folks write in who have found her website and ask questions about her treatment and how she handled her prior treatments. We feel blessed that the Lord is permitting us to be used in this way. As I have found out, there are not many folks this far out from a surgery for Glioblastoma. Thank-you Jesus!
Our prayer requests remain, as always, for 1.) The Lord's will, and not our will, be done, 2.) For the tumor NEVER EVER to re-appear, 3.) For the next MRI to be clear and 4.) For all of her side effects to disappear.
As always, we thank-you for your prayers!
In His Name, Love & Service,
Frank
PS - If you want to be taken off of this list, please let me know. Or, if you want to be placed on this list, let me know at fmferrer@coed4.org.
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