Trial Tomorrow

Tim just called and he got the final go ahead!  Trial starts tomorrow.  We will have to be in Houston by 8:15 tomorrow morning and they expect him to be in clinic 12-16 hours.  I'll have plenty of time to post more - maybe even some pics!

A Punch in the Gut

Tim will not start the trial drug tomorrow as planned.  Our day started with 45 shut down due to a wreck.  After finally arriving at MD Anderson, we spent four hours sitting around just to be told that his white blood cell count is too high to start the trial. It has to be 11 or under and his was 11.2 from the labs drawn on Friday.  So now we wait. They will schedule another round of labs and a new CT scan. Pray that these happen this week and he can start the drug next week.  By the way - his doctor is still in Greece and making all decisions from there.

Phase 1 Trial

As many of you have now heard, Tim has been approved and accepted as apart of a trial at MD Anderson.  Unlike the previous trials that we were waiting on, this particular drug is a Phase I trial.  What this means is that only a handful of people are involved and is often one of the first time that the drug is tried outside of a laboratory environment.  In Tim's case, the drug does not yet have a name.  It is simply known by the pharmaceutical company name and a number.

We will both be meeting with the doctor and our trial coordinator on Monday, but here's what we know at this time.  The drug (OBI-888) will be an infusion through his port or an IV once a week.  He will be required to be downtown for a total of four days a week each week - one day for the actual infusion, one day for blood work and doctor's appointments, and two other PK lab days.  At this time, we plan for him to travel back and forth so that he can spend as much time with Cooper and Abby in the evenings as possible.

We are both aware that Phase I trials are only the beginning stage of clinical trials and that there are no guarantees that this will work, but there doesn't seem to be anything that says that it will be a detriment or make things work.

I will update again Monday or Tuesday as we learn more.  Between now and then, pray

1. for this to be our Miracle.
2. for the kids as we are away periodically.
3. for safe travels on 45!