hi all,

the latest news about my sister:

roughly 2 weeks after the end of the first round of chemo (combination cisplatin, dexoteris, 5FU), her oncologist told her yesterday that the treatment doesn't seem to be working on the new tumour. no hard tests have been done to validate this. she's supposed to see him again on friday to discuss treatment options. meanwhile, we are still trying to get her into City of Hope, though we seem to be stuck in a bureaucratic maze at the moment. she's lost more weight as a result of chemo. feeding continues to be a problem as she can barely tolerate food in her stomach. she's generally pretty weak though she seems to be on the up now that she's at home. she and all of us with her are struggling to not be disheartened.

more questions:

- what kind of tests should be done at this stage to determine whether or not chemo has been working?

- they gave her a lower dosage of chemo drugs because of concern for her general state of health. should a higher dose be considered now?

- what might be other treatment options? should a second surgery be considered at this point?

thank you for any and all advice, counsel, hints and tips.

be well.

gita