We got the word Thursday night the 11th that the Lab in CA had confirmed that Liz has the B-raf mutation from her tissue samples. The slides sent over the weekend were stained and others were immediately sent to replace them, and the test only took two days. We had already scheduled Liz for the testing needed.
Liz and I will head to Los Angeles on Monday for two days of ECG testing on Tues and Wed. We will spend the days there because she needs to have leads on and readings taken every two hours for eight hours. Blood will be drawn at those intervals too. I think we will bring some movies or books for passing the time.
Liz has been feeling more pain lately. Her left hip has hurt since Sat or Sun and gotten worse. She uses her heating pad and pillows and wears her pajamas rather than pants. She moves pretty slowly when getting up or sitting down. She also has had trouble (still) with nausea and vomiting. She stopped taking her marinol (for appetite) because she thinks it was making her sick when she took it before eating. That seemed to help for a few days. We got more antinausea medication too. Most of the time she seems to be in fine spirits, but pain takes its toll. She sleeps in bed with me so I can help her if needed. She takes a higher dose of oxycodone as needed.
We have high hopes for this clinical trial drug, shown to be 80% effective at reducing melanoma tumors and the pain they cause. Liz will start medication on Wed. Feb 17th. We are hoping pills are not a problem - at least they are not injections. :)
This past week we were blessed to have Saralyn Campbell and her two children, Emma and Thane. We loved seeing them and playing with them. Sara made us some fantastic dinners and goodies, and helped with cleaning and dishes, organizing, and massaging. She went home just in time for her own birthday!
Phil arrived from Arlington VA/Washington DC on Tuesday. His was one of three flights out of Reagan airport that day, then it closed down due to more snow. Phil came to meet and interview with some local law firms, contacts of our good neighbor, Jon H. We are hopeful that he will find a summer internship (even better if it pays) so they can come live near family for a few months. We would love to have time to play with Amy and Liberty and Phil.
We are grateful for faith and prayers offered on behalf of Liz and all of us. We trust God to do what is best.
