Update

Every once in awhile you get a brake. You get a sprinkling of good. My advice is to take it and enjoy. I'm so glad to be sharing hopeful news today. Recently I've felt like the grim-writer. I thought my written words would be very different the next time I updated everyone on Mike. I had such a hard day, thinking and waiting for each moment to go by until his 3:15 appointment. I'm happy to say that tonight I think we can all sleep a little more soundly. Today Mike met with Dr. Staddon (his oncologist). Dr. Staddon was in agreement that Mike's tumors had grown since his scan in November 09 but that was not his focus. His focus was telling Mike and the entourage about a clinical trial going on in Europe that he thinks Mike is a good candidate for. He said they are using the treatment in Europe for treating another type of cancer. There is one person in the study that has Chondrosarcoma and that person is actually having success with the treatment. It is doing more then stabilizing the tumors, it's shrinking them. That's right, I said "shrinking them". This is the first time we have heard of this. With this good news comes the usual disclaimers: each person that has Chondrosarcoma is different. There is no person the same so Mike's Chondrosaroma may not react the same way as the person having success and there are no promises it will work. Also this drug has not yet been approved in the states, but Mike's Doctor is working on getting it there. It will be in a pill form and we are told has very little side effects. The most visiable effects will be that Mike's hair may lighten. The name of the drug is Pozapinb and Votrient.

When I heard this news today I was filled with a few different emotions. I'm not sure which came first but I felt like doing a cartwheel and I also had a feeling of "oh-here-we-go-again". I think I felt this way because I had been preparing myself for the worst, but this time the worst didn't come. I left feeling some sort of hope. Mike tells me not to get my hopes up...easier said then done...hope is all I really have right now so that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Hey..it's better then the alternative, right? I don't believe in miracles in this system, but I do believe in hope.

We will know more next week so as usual stayed tuned. Until then...take a deep breath.