The Devil You Know

We went in to see my oncologist today and as I should have expected she had a new plan. She had presented my case to the Phase 1 Trial Tumor Board and the consensus was that I could/should go back on the Tykerb trial I was on before the brain tumor made itself known. Their reasoning is...

1. I had a really good response the first time around.

2. Trying it again doesn't burn any bridges, I can stop if I don't respond (or if I just can't deal with it).

3. Tykerb is a drug that may well keep brain tumors from popping up (it doesn't work as well at shrinking pre-existing tumors - probably what I had when I started the trial).

4. It isn't chemo, so I won't get run down physically and I won't lose my hair (seems like a silly thing, but I was kinda dreading losing my hair for the third time in 2 years).

I'm not excited to start this up again, but it seems like the right thing to do. I mean, if the experts at UCSF are recommending it I figure it's worth a try. The only sticking point (and maybe it isn't a bad thing) is that I can't start the trial for a month. One of the requirements of the trial (and most trials) is that you wait a month after any brain radiation. This means I'll be starting up again right before X-mas. Here's hoping that my present is lots of dead cancer cells!