“How long will you go limping with two different opinions?” (1 Kings 18:21)
Not very long, it turns out. Decision made. I’m not waiting, and will be entering the UCLA trial before I get the gene sequencing results. The UCLA study gives me access two two promising drugs I couldn’t otherwise get, whereas the other one gives me a 50/50 chance of getting a drug that’s already FDA approved (just not approved in the combination being studied in the trial). My feeling is that if the UCLA one isn’t working, I can always get the 3 drugs from the other trial individually with a prescription. Maybe that other trial’s drug combination will be really effective, but it’s a gamble to pass on the certainty of getting 2 new drugs in favor of a 50/50 shot. Thanks for the prayers on this.
I might start treatment as early as Friday. Stay tuned.
My doctor’s expectation: I have an excellent chance of having almost no side effects, and he really thinks I have a good shot of having a favorable immune reaction to these drugs, meaning that my immune system then starts killing cancer cells. Once I start, it will be several months before we’ll know if it’s working.
Fun fact: I was complimented on my “amazing” veins today when they were drawing (lots of) blood for the trial. I told the phlebotomist that it was the nicest thing anyone had said to me all day, but it didn’t really get a reaction. Tough crowd.
