Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Avastin.



Overall, today was not a great day. I’m so fucking drained that I will probably make a mess of this post.

Dr. Barnes, the surgeon who removed my tumor in January, looked over my CT scan results yesterday and I went to see him today about what he saw. He said that he saw several small tumors on my intestines and that granulosa cell cancer doesn’t typically act this aggressively. He thinks the cancer might be resistant to chemo at this point so he wants to try a new drug: Avastin. I haven’t heard of this drug before today so I’m sharing this information as I look it up:

Avastin is a tumor-starving (or anti-angiogenic) therapy. The purpose of Avastin is to block a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor, or VEGF. Normal cells produce VEGF, but some cancer cells overproduce VEGF. Blocking VEGF may prevent the growth of new blood vessels that feed tumors.

Avastin is given as an infusion. That means you receive Avastin through a small needle in your vein or through a port.

The most common side effects of Avastin are:

>Nosebleeds
>Headache
>High blood pressure
>Inflammation of the nose
>Too much protein in the urine
>Dry skin
>Rectal bleeding
>Tear production disorder
>Back pain
>Inflammation of the skin

The most serious side effects (not common, but sometimes fatal):
>Gastrointestinal (GI) perforation. A hole that develops in your stomach or intestine. Symptoms include pain in the abdomen, nausea, vomiting, constipation, or fever
>Wounds that don’t heal. A cut made during surgery can be slow to heal or may not fully heal. Avastin should not be used for at least 28 days before or after surgery and until surgical wounds are fully healed
>Serious bleeding. This includes vomiting or coughing up blood; bleeding in the stomach, brain, or spinal cord; and vaginal bleeding. If you recently coughed up blood or had serious bleeding, do not take Avastin

Other possible serious side effects:

>Abnormal passage in the body. This forms from one part of the body to another and can sometimes be fatal
>Stroke or heart problems. These include blood clots, mini-stroke, heart attack, and chest pain. These can sometimes be fatal
>Severe high blood pressure. Blood pressure that severely spikes or shows signs of affecting the brain. Blood pressure should be monitored every 2 to 3 weeks while on Avastin and after stopping treatment
>Nervous system and vision problems. Symptoms include high blood pressure, headache, seizure, sluggishness, confusion, and blindness
>Kidney problems. These may be caused by too much protein in the urine and can sometimes be fatal
>Infusion reactions. These may include difficulty breathing, chest pain, and excessive sweating. Your doctor or nurse will monitor you for signs of infusion reactions
>Fertility issues for women. Avastin could cause a woman’s ovaries to stop working and may impair her ability to have children.

An attempt to look on the bright side: Hair loss and fatigue are not listed as side effects. Also, a radiologist drained almost 3 liters of fluid from my abdomen today which made me feel a great deal better.

Really though, I’m exhausted and terrified. I have to pretend to be brave and strong now in an attempt to convince myself that I am brave and strong.

I find out more tomorrow when I go in for my first treatment. Now I just want to try to relax and take my mind off all this by finding something really funny to watch.

2 comments:

  1. Hey, I rarely comment, so I just wanted to post a comment to let you know we're still following you and praying for you. I hope you found something funny to watch to take your mind off things! Are you reading anything good now?

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  2. I called my mom who works with cancer, explained your situation (as good as I could) and before I mentioned Avastin she said that she hoped you would get that medicine. She said it is a really good medicine who works for lunch, brain, ovarian and colon cancer REALLY well and that it has really positive results!

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