i wanted to report on my sister's current treatment plan. consider this also as a follow-up to the thread about erbitox.

she's on day 10 of 2nd round of radiation. treatment plan: irradiating 2 spots on the neck where new tumors are located:
tumor 1: 200 cgy/day for 35 sessions
tumor 2: 160 cgy/day for 35 sessions
to max dose: 70 gy

she's also getting erbitox infusion once a week at her oncologist's office. she's had it once already. side effects:

in addition to nausea, she's also running a fever (higher on the first couple of days and decreasing later to about 98.5). she's also getting frequent headaches that we associate with erbitox although it's not listed as side-effect in official literature.

overall, my sister's conditions have sadly deteriorated. she has 2 open abcesses right over the tumors and pain management is quite difficult. she's determined to continue fighting.

please keep her and us in your good thoughts.

gita


sister diagnosed 11/03 SCC maxilla keratenizing stg IV T1N1Mx; 4-7 positive lymph nodes; dissection 12/03 left upper pallette removd; radiaton left side 35 sessions 2/04-4/04; recurrence same side 4/04; chemo began 5/04 incl cisplatine, 5fu, taxotere