Today was the start of my sixth treatment. During the last (5th) treatment we stopped the Avastin due to the pulmonary embolism and the blood clot in my left leg. Studies had shown that Avastin can dramatically increase the risk of blood clots, so that seemed like a prudent decision.  I was a little bit concerned though that the benefits that Avastin had provided would now be lost. Not to fear though, today they added instead a drug called Vectibix (https://www.vectibix.com/how-vectibix-works/) to my cocktail. It has some undesirable side effects, mostly involving sensitivity to the sun and possible (90% when taken in conjunction with 5-FU) skin rash. It works by blocking the receptors in the cell that receive the epidermal growth factor signal. That signal is responsible for triggering cell division, so blocking it should prevent the impacted cells from reproducing, Used in conjunction with the 5-FU, it has been found to be quite effective. It has a 1% chance of causing a blood clot, which is far less than the Avastin, so hopefully my hydration regimen will be adequate to prevent that from occurring again.

My blood work all looked pretty good. White cell count is still good and the numbers from 2 weeks ago that signaled diminished liver function had bounced back to where they had been the previous check. For now I will consider that set as an aberration since all other blood work had been pretty consistent.

So for now I am home tying this with a beautiful furry feline on my left and my infusion pump on my right  I am hopeful that I will continue on my limited side effects journey through this but am prepared for the possible new ones. Since I don’t see the sun much, and 2 of my drugs recommend avoiding it I hopefully won’t trigger anything through that.

Cheers