No Pain, No Gain

Dad is coming up on 1 month of using the "silver bullet", Tarceva. The drug is doing wonders as he smiles more, says it's easier to breathe, and his coughing has subsided. He has a re-energized outlook on life and I see a lift in his spirits!  But as they say... No pain, no gain!

Along with the drug's amazing efficacy come powerful side effects. Dad suffers from 5 of the 7 well-known side effects of Tarceva - most noticeable of which are the rashes/acne on his face and upper body.  It's like he's going through puberty again. His re-energized, youthful spirit is accompanied by the struggles of youth as well... He is now taking antibiotics and cream to help with the rashes.

The other side effects - fatigue, mouth sores, diarrhea, itchy scalp, etc, which were strong the first 2-3 weeks, have subsided substantially. Dad says it's thanks to the prayers of his dear brothers & sisters.  Thank you, thank you!  :)

Dad's check-up last Wednesday with the Oncologist was positive.  His lab report showed positive reaction to the medicine.  CEA levels were down from last time 2.5 to 2.2.  (< 3.0 is normal level).  He'll continue taking the wonder drug for 5 more weeks until his next PET Scan.  We are looking forward to having a celebration party for him - for a happy 60th birthday & cheers to a successful fight thus far!


- Stephanie

The Silver Bullet

Good news! The PET scan from Monday showed that the tumor activities have reduced. The blood report also showed that the tumor marker CEA has decreased to within the normal range! Knowing how tough it is to harness the lung cancer, we are happy about the result.  Praise God!

Gwohann can now use the molecularly targeted therapy, as our oncologist coined it  'the trump card', to kill the driver for the cancer growth and keep the beast under control.  He is fortunate to be one of the 10% NSCLC patients whose gene mutations match EGFR.  Therefore, the targeted therapy Tarceva will work 'beautifully' and produce great result for him.

We are very excited about this new treatment which was only available in the last few years.  The drug will be taken orally with tolerable side effects, hence, not only that the drug will be effective, but we will have a better quality of life.

It feels like that we are let out of the 'chemo cage', free and wonderful!

You are receiving this update because you have been cheering us on and giving us a hand while we were in the chemo treatment.  We couldn't have sustained the chemo without you!  Thank you for all you have done for us!

Love,
Gwohann 國漢 and Jacqueline 佳芬