Back in the ER

Between my school, our respective jobs and prepping for the BrightLife tournament we haven't had a moment between us to spare over the past month although there has been a lot happening. Tim is still on the same treatment but the breathing issues have continued and between those and how exhausted/burnt out he is plus how much of a beating his body has taken over the past four years we decided it would be best for him to take a few weeks off of chemo so last week was his last treatment until the end of April. During this time we're also looking into some new options to see if he is eligable and if they are good options for him. 

We're at the point where there are no longer any standard protocols for treatment so clinical trials are our only options. As he has had so much and so many different drugs he is only eligible for Phase One trials which are trials more in their infancy. We're still working to learn the ins and outs of all of this but to my current understanding this is both good and bad. Bad in that these are not drugs that have been thoroughly tested through  multiple levels of trials. That does mean that Tim gets faster access to drugs though. In addition he is watched MUCH more closely for possible side effects and complications. Newer drugs are also much more targeted than traditional protocols so side effects are lessened a bit and we have a better chance of finding something that actually makes advances in getting rid of the cancer versus just keeping it under control. Unfortunately we also run the risk of trying something that doesn't even slow down growth but frankly that is a risk that we encounter with every drug tried on Tim. It's always an inner struggle to accept moving to a new drug but we'll never find a cure for him if we don't. 

We had another trip into the ER last night due to some mysterious swelling at the top of Tim's thigh. He isn't in pain and it doesn't look infected but there were some concerns about him having a blood clot. He had an ultrasound this morning where they determined he was clot free so now it's a matter of figuring out what the swelling is being caused by and how to treat it. We've been doctor hopping this morning and are hoping to have some answers in the next few hours, well update with more as we know!

Thanks!