Busy week in review

I had another MRI on Tuesday of this week, then had an appointment with my oncologist on Thursday and my radiation oncologist on Friday. Long story short: "...Apparent progression of disease within the left parietal lobe...." Disappointing news, but not totally unexpected. I've noticed fairly dramatic worsening of my gait abnormalities in the past couple of weeks, probably brought on by brain swelling as a result of tumor growth. So now I'm back on the corticosteroid dexamethasone to hopefully reduce the swelling. In addition I will most likely begin an IV chemotherapy drug bevacizumab (Avastin) within the next couple of weeks. Avastin is approved by the FDA for treatment of glioblastoma as a single agent for patients with progressive disease following prior therapy. It is administered by intravenous infusion every two weeks. Treatment is usually continued until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Given the nature of the disease, Avastin was generally well tolerated in two small clinical trials. My prior therapy was radiation therapy and the oral agent temozolomide (Temodar). I am hopeful that I will get some benefit from the Avastin. As Marge says, we have to play with the cards we're dealt.

We also went to Ed Caldwell's funeral on Wednesday. Ed was a wonderful and gentle man who became the first African-American graduate of the Oregon State University College of Pharmacy. He finished his pharmacy career at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center's outpatient pharmacy. I got to know Ed when I was an inpatient pharmacist there at the same time. Coincidentally I worked with Ed's wife Donna at Kaiser Permanente for several years after I left PSVMC and before Donna retired. Great people, and a wonderful couple. Ed will be missed by his many friends. If you look up the word "gentleman" in the dictionary, you will find a picture of Ed Caldwell.

Pete and Tracy and their girls are visting with Andy and Ali and their boys this weekend. The circus is on their agenda for tomorrow. I can imagine it would be a circus without the circus with the four little kids. Lucy happened to be running by when I was on the phone with Pete after they arrived in Redmond this evening. Pete asked her if she wanted to say hello to Grammy and Papa. She replied very politely, "No thank you." (Too busy to talk.)

My old Kaiser work group is having an end-of-summer get-together on Sunday. We are looking forward to seeing the old gang. And finally, we are getting together with Jim and Susan Sanger, who now live in St. Louis. I worked for Jim at Good Samaritan Hospital before I went to PSVMC. Small pharmacy world in Portland.

P.S. We have a new email address: nomarmuilenburg@frontier.com