Chicago, Here we come!

After working two 12 hour shifts- getting off work at 9:30pm- we packed up the girls and the car and headed to Chicago. According to our phone GPS, only 6 hr 51 min to go.

How far would you go for a new treatment? For a potential CURE? And at what cost? For us, a 7 hr drive or a one hour flight seemed like small things.



6 hour 51 min

I'm thankful I have a husband that likes to drive. He let me sleep the whole way. We stopped in the morning to have breakfast a pecan waffle with whipped cream and crispy hashbrowns.



Breakfast

Then, it was off to Hospital Land. We checked in and handed over my medical records. We were roomed and waited for the doctor to come in. We ran down of the last five years of my life with breast cancer. We learned what the study would entail.



Waiting for the Doctor

Then, it was time for tests. First, the EKG and then a head CT. After all the tests were complete, we were told we had to wait a week or so for all the results. Then, it would determined if I met the criteria for the clinic trial.



EKG

After a day at the hospital, it was time for Chicago style pizza. Yummy!

Pizza

We spent the night and headed back home the next day. First, we stopped a for doughnut.

Out of the Blue

We received a phone call from the Mayo Clinic today to see if we wanted to be put on a short waiting list for a new clinical trail. Of course, we said YES! He told us to continue with the plan for radiation and he would call us in the next week or so with further information.

Later this afternoon, the University of Chicago called to say that the clinical trial that Dr. Laudi had inquired about was now open. They wanted us to come to their hospital the following Monday to get baseline numbers. I would have labs, an echocardiogram, an EKG and a CT of my brain (always reassuring to see it's still there!).

From NO new options to TWO!!!

Note: A week later we received a call from the Mayo reporting that their trial was full.

PET/CT Results

We did one more round of carboplatin. About a week later, Mark and I were out for a date night. I noticed I had been having increased back pain, so I asked Mark to call the clinic in the morning to see if we could move my scan date up.

They were in able to get me in the next day and I had orders to go straight to the clinic afterwards to read the results. Dr. Laudi pulled the scans up and they showed new tumors in my rib and the one in my lumber spine that was pushing into the spinal cord space causing the pain.

Olivia is bored.

a

Photo by Olivia of Dr. Laudi
as he ponders our next move

Dr. Laudi called the the research nurse to see if she had any clinical trials that I would qualify for. She had nothing. He referred me to the radiation clinic. I asked him about other hospitals that might have a clinical trials. We looked at the U of MN, but they had nothing. I asked about Chicago. We looked and they had one, but it was not open. Dr. Laudi said he would call in the morning to see what the status is of that clinical trial, if it would be opening soon and if I could get on it.