what's the magic number

Here we are for round 2 of what should be a minimum of 12 rounds of Xelox. The oncologist told us today that he is just awaiting approval from the insurance company to add Avastin to the mix. Avastin isn't a chemo drug as it doesn't fight the cancer. What it does is it attaches itself to a protein called Vascular Epidermal Growth Factor (VEGF) and it blocks the formation of new blood vessels to the tumors. Yet another cool biology lesson.

The good news is that after just one round of Xelox, Paul's CEA number has plummeted from 137 down to 95.6. You can just imagine the happy dance I did at work when I received the email from the doctor. Of course, it's still high but it's heading in the right direction at least.

Paul is getting used to the side effects and we are trying to figure out if there is any kind of pattern to the nausea, constipation, fatigue, etc. It's going to be a conundrum but I am sure we will figure it out somehow.