Back from NYC

It was a quick trip and we spent much of it waiting in airports - 1.5hr delay up and 2.5 hr delay on the return - ugh! But it was worth it and we learned a lot. The visit with Dr. Moskowitz was very sobering and he explained many details about my case. He did not agree with the 60% cure rate number I was told by the local Doc regarding the outcome of stem cell transplant for the treatment of Hodgkins Relapse. Instead, he said it is about 50%. There have been lots of studies lately trying to determine which patients do better with ASCT treatment - this work is trying to develop a prognostic model. In his studies, Dr. M is seeing that people with 0-1 risk factors are 70-80% survival, and people with 2+ risk factors are more like 20 - 30%. The average of these two groups is where the 50% number comes from. Since I am in the second group, he feels strongly that I should not undergo the "standard" treatment and instead get a more aggressive regimen.

The clinical trial he has underway would basically give me a double dose of the same chemo I would get down here and then harvest my stem cells. If I wasn't "clean" at that point, I would go thru a new round of chemo with different drugs to try to achieve remission before the stem cell transplant. The transplant process would be similar to down here, but done in the hospital. Dr. M also made a case for getting treatment at a location that specializes in Hodgkins research and has lots of experience with the disease. Since HD is not very common, and those of us who relapse are even rarer (since most are cured with first round....), not everyone has expertise in the field. My local doctors are certainly well versed in Hodgkins, but nowhere near the same level as the lymphoma group at MSKCC who are constantly learing new things in this field.

So after that wonderfully heavy news, Brant and I had a great little lunch at an Italian place and discussed whether we could manage treatment in NYC. It will be a real strain on the family having to be apart, and not a lot of fun financially, either. But it just seems like everything has fallen into place for us to be at MSKCC and so we are going to try to get it approved thru insurance.

We hailed a cab for the ride back to La Guardia. I should have known there would be trouble when Brant had barely pulled his hand out of his pocket and a cab came flying across four lanes of traffic, cutting in front of two other cabs, to get to us first. I truly thought the whole issue of cancer treatment would not be an issue since I expected to die in that car. What a wild ride - Disney should consider it at their theme parks! I did want to experience a little of NY, so I guess the cab ride was it. Thre wasn't time to do much else other than walk the few blocks around the hospital center. It was cold and drizzly, but we really enjoyed walking around. It is amazing that you can have everything you need in just a few blocks!! I found the whole "urban environment" to be fascinating. So many people living is such a small space.

Thank you for all of your continued prayers. Please pray that Brant and I will be able to make wise decisions and that things will work out in our favor to have the right treatments.