From Darby: Treatment #5 update - We met with Dr. Shalaby just now and went over the CT scan with contrast in person with him. He is encouraged that Clayton is responding to the treatment! We confirmed we will still be finishing these last 2 rounds of treatment. Then at that point, Clayton will come off of the chemo drug that causes the cold sensitivity and neuropathy to prevent any long term effects. There is a chance he could go back on it in the future, but it wouldn’t be for awhile to give his body time to recover. He will continue to stay on the chemo pills and one of the chemo infusions for the foreseeable future. As long as they are working at shrinking the cancer, or preventing growth, we will continue with those two. He will also order a PETscan after we finish these last 2 rounds to see how his entire body has responded to the chemo. This will also help us determine what the new spot is that popped up. He is hopeful it’s not cancer. He explained that cancer is like weeds, and as long as he is on chemo in some form, the hope is to keep it from growing. He could be on them indefinitely. We still have several options of treatment plans depending on what the PETscan shows, and also have the option of clinical trials later on down the road if we need them. As of right now, Dr. Shalaby is not suggesting surgery because of the fact that those tumors are responding in his abdomen and colon, and that with surgery you can not be on chemo for 4-6 weeks while your body heals, which could cause more growth in the cancer. So while it’s still responding to the chemo, he feels this is the safest option. Of course all of this could change with any given scan, and so it’s a “wait and see” kind of thing. Overall we are encouraged that his tumors are shrinking (and some even gone in his chest!) and are praying that the PETscan wouldn’t show any new spots after his 6 rounds are done! Thank you guys for always standing the gap for us and praying us through this season. We are SO thankful for each of you!
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