We'll see what happens...

We are in the treatment room at CTRC as I write. I have completed four 28-day cycles of LDE225. My CT scans showed only very slight growth today, so we are clear to continue on this drug. We are thankful. Praise the Lord! In a Phase I clinical trial like this, the main objective is to determine maximum tolerable dosages for the drug. Dr. Mita consulted with the drug company, and they want to double the dose beginning with this cycle, so I started that today. We'll see what happens...

I have been feeling pretty well for the most part. I am still having headaches fairly often. A new development has been frequent muscle cramping in various parts of my body. Dr. Mita is not sure whether this is a side-effect of the drug or not. No other patients to her knowledge have had that happen. My blood work was a little off in certain areas, but she is not sure if that is related or not. I guess we will see what happens...

They had trouble flushing my port today, so we are still here because of that. If they don't get blood return when flushing, it could be an indication of a stoppage or clot. For some reason, they have not been able to get blood back. They have injected a drug called TPA into my port, which will normally thin out the blood and break up small amounts of buildup. It didn't work, so they tried reaccessing my port. That didn't work, either. We are still waiting to see what happens...