Tuesday, May 17, 2016

The time has come!

I received a call from the clinical trial coordinator at MD Anderson today and we are ready to rock and roll. They have the consent form that we have been waiting on ready and insurance clearance is done. They have me scheduled for bloodwork and an EKG before giving me two months supply of the drug for my targeted therapy. This is part of the NCI Match Program that the U.S. Government put a ton of money into to get some clues...answers about cancer and get a cure maybe a little sooner. This trial started with ten arms and have JUST opened up several new arms including mine.

I am not really a "fit" for immunotherapy right now and I truly believe this is the path I am being pushed towards right now. I will hopefully be able to do immunotherapy in the future....and I can leave this trial at any time. I have been explained the side effects of my drug (which was FDA approved for pancreatic, prostate, and kidney cancers) and the best part is it is for my mutation. Or....I should say loss of the P-TEN alteration. The side effects are minimal hopefully.....   Not really sure if I will lose my hair....nor do I really care. :-) 

I will travel back to Houston after two months for bloodwork, EKG and a scan. Then a visit with the clinical trial dr...and if all goes well, I will get two more months worth of drugs from Glaxo Smith Kline. In between the visits to Houston, I will have labs drawn in Illinois to make sure my labs are safe.
So....Pat and I will leave Sunday for Houston and stop somewhere...then drive on in for a 10:45 lab draw and to sign the consent form to get me in this trial. We will be in Houston about 5 days at the most....I hope.

I am excited and positive that this will get rid of any nodules, nodes, or any other little cancer cells lurching around in my body.

Please keep us in your prayers and pray this trial does good things and shows positive results with my cancer. I will keep you posted as things progress in the next few weeks.

I am a survivor....I am a warrior....and I am a fighter. This girl doesn't give up...and I always...ALWAYS know God is right beside me. I feel safe...I am not afraid...I AM READY!

In Faith~~
Patty Corcoran

13 comments:

  1. Yeah! You definitely are s fighter and a warrior.

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    1. You got this girlie my prayers are constant!!Love Ya

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  2. Yeah! You definitely are s fighter and a warrior.

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  3. You have many prayer warriors at our church in Evansville. Be safe on your journey south.

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    1. Keep those prayers coming Mary Lou! Thank you and God Bless!!

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  4. Hi, can you explain why you are not a fit for immunotherapy trails/keytruda etc?
    Keytruda targets the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway.
    thanks

    -cc caregiver

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    1. I do NOT have the PD-1 or PD-L1 pathway. Right now we are targeting the Lss of P-TEN. P-TEN is a tumor suppressor and I now have the loss of P-TEN...... Keytruda/Optdivo/Yervoy are not truly made for Cholangiocarcinoma and since I do not express those pathways....I am just not eady to go there yet. This trial is a targeted therapy for what I need to target right now. Researchers are coming up with more specific immunotherapies RE: Bladder cancer recently. So....I will bide my time and know pretty quickly if this trial will work for me. If not, then I might look at an immunotherapy/targeted drug combo trial. I hope this helps.

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  5. Hello Patty,

    I read about you in the Cholangiocarconma Foundation FaceBook. I wish you strength in your trial.

    Warmest regards,
    Hee Foong, a fellow warrior since July 2015.
    Malaysia.

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    1. Thank you so much for leaving a message. I hope you are still fighting strong. Do you think you have a liver fluke? Did they determine that? I pray you are doing well my warrior friend!!

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  6. Can you tell me what doctor you see in illinois? My dad has been having trouble getting good care in illinois. We'd like to consider match or keytruda or Opdivo, if an oncologist could help us!!

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  7. Can you tell me what doctor you see in illinois? My dad has been having trouble getting good care in illinois. We'd like to consider match or keytruda or Opdivo, if an oncologist could help us!!

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    1. Dr. Philip Dy (Dee) from Crossroads Cancer Center in Effingham Illinois. He also has satellite offices in other place in Illinois. He talks to my dr in Houston on a regular basis and I believe has learned a lot through him. Dr. Dy is very good.

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