Details from Today's Appointment

This is a message from Rob that explains today's appointment with more detail:

Teresa is ER/PR +. This means that he will not have to treat as aggressively. Still waiting for pathology report from last week in regards to whether she is HER 2 +/-. This will determine how he utimately treats her. If HER 2+(which he believes it will be), he will treat with Taxol and Avastin. She will get Taxol one time a week and Avastin one time every two weeks. He said that the first time will take approximately 4 hours. After that, a single dose will take 1 1/2 hours or both at 3 hours. Dr. Gupta also said that she should not lose all of her hair.

There are a couple of philosophies for treating. He can go at it very aggressively or more gently. Either way, the results are the same over the period of time. As a result, he wants to keep her quality of life at a decent level and will treat more gently. He feels that she will be able to enjoy and spend time with the girls and not be down and out with this approach.

When asked about long-term prognosis, Dr. Gupta did not give us any indication. He said that every patient is different. He did say that, "We are not backed against the wall." She will have her ovaries removed once she gets into the treatment. This will help reduce the estrogen which the cancer feeds off of.

Please continue to keep all of us in your prayers. We know that they are being answered. We need to remember that there will be set backs along the way. However, we feel blessed for every piece of good news that we receive. Keep praying that she responds well to treatment and can beat the odds!