OUR DEAR FRIEND HAS CANCER FCS

[timebuilder]

Good morning, Bret and everyone!

[sparky05]

Amen to that Brother.

[sparky05]

I hope none of us ever find ourselves walking through those fires...

Amen to that, Brother.

[timebuilder]

Good morning, Bret and everyone!

I spent over two hours of "quality time" with my snow blower. I used to tell Julie that it was the best $400 I ever spent on a used item.

4° F right now. Gotta go....

[fcs]

Good morning, Bret and everyone!

I spent over two hours of "quality time" with my snow blower. I used to tell Julie that it was the best $400 I ever spent on a used item.

4° F right now. Gotta go....

Good day to go to the beach

[fcs]

Waiting for Doctor right now

[timebuilder]

Good day to go to the beach

Yeah, if I lived in Ft Lauderdale.

[timebuilder]

Good morning, Bret and everyone!

I think we've seen our last "below 25° F" for this winter here. We have a week of warming trend ahead, and it would be pretty unusual to get as low as last night (6° F) after mid March here.

So, the craggy frozen slush we have outside should disappear...


Hmmm. Beach. Not a bad idea.....

[Doug Lockhart]

Man you guys got hit hard this winter........
We got spoiled......didn't even have to scrape a windshield this year and missed no mtn biking. it was 15 degC here today and blindingly sunny.

Bret, how's it going buddy?
How's Andy and Karen doing?
How is your weather down there....I heard to guys got hit a bit too eh?

Should be a good ride tomorrow as I gotta 6" needle shoved up under my tailbone and into my spine to load it with cortisone to deaden the nerves and tissue being crushed......
Wow was it painful ...... but the relief is incredible......
I'll try and phone you tomorrow Bret......

[timebuilder]

Good morning, Bret and everyone!

Daylight savings time here in Pa.....

[John Culpepper]

, Andy says we should start taking his dad to the vet: the vet doesn’t even care what species you are, and it costs a lot less. J
Ha ha ha. My dad told me when he was a kid he fell out of the car and landed on a steel beer can and it open his head up like a baseball. My grand parents took him to the vet because it was cheaper to get his head stitched up.

[timebuilder]

Good morning, Bret and everyone!

[fcs]

Man you guys got hit hard this winter........
We got spoiled......didn't even have to scrape a windshield this year and missed no mtn biking. it was 15 degC here today and blindingly sunny.

Bret, how's it going buddy?
How's Andy and Karen doing?
How is your weather down there....I heard to guys got hit a bit too eh?

Should be a good ride tomorrow as I gotta 6" needle shoved up under my tailbone and into my spine to load it with cortisone to deaden the nerves and tissue being crushed......
Wow was it painful ...... but the relief is incredible......
I'll try and phone you tomorrow Bret......

Dang that sound fun and did they say 'this will only hurt a bit"
will be get to talk to you Doug

[fcs]

, Andy says we should start taking his dad to the vet: the vet doesn’t even care what species you are, and it costs a lot less. J
Ha ha ha. My dad told me when he was a kid he fell out of the car and landed on a steel beer can and it open his head up like a baseball. My grand parents took him to the vet because it was cheaper to get his head stitched up.

hey if it work

[fcs]

Here's and article my home town did on me Sunday
http://www.pharostribune.com/news/lo...tml?mode=story

[fcs]

Here a FDA Statement on the Drug combination they will be using on me. Hope we can Start this week
FDA NEWS RELEASE


For Immediate Release: Jan. 10, 2014
Media Inquiries: Tara Goodin, 240-402-3157, tara.goodin@fda.hhs.gov
Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA

En Español

FDA approves Mekinist in combination with Tafinlar for advanced melanoma

This week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Mekinist (trametinib) in combination with Tafinlar (dabrafenib) to treat patients with advanced melanoma that is unresectable (cannot be removed by surgery) or metastatic (late-stage).

In May 2013, the FDA approved both drugs as single agents to treat patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma. Melanoma is the most aggressive type of skin cancer and is the leading cause of death from skin disease. The National Cancer Institute estimated that 76,690 Americans would be diagnosed with melanoma and 9,480 would die from the disease in 2013.

Mekinist and Tafinlar are used to block signaling in different sites of the same molecular pathway that promotes cancer cell growth. They are specifically indicated as a combination therapy for patients with melanoma whose tumors express gene mutations called BRAF V600E and V600K. The BRAF protein is involved in the regulation of normal cell growth, but it is mutated in approximately half of melanomas arising from the skin.

“Mekinist and Tafinlar are the first drugs approved for combination treatment of melanoma,” said Richard Pazdur, M.D., director of the Office of Hematology and Oncology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Their development for combination use is based on the strong understanding of the biological pathways of the disease. This approval illustrates the value of continuing to study drugs in combination for clinical development.”

The safety and effectiveness of Mekinist in combination with Tafinlar were demonstrated in a clinical trial of 162 participants with unresectable or metastatic melanoma with the BRAF V600E or V600K mutation, most of whom had not received prior therapy. Participants received either Mekinist in combination with Tafinlar or Tafinlar as a single agent until their melanoma progressed or side effects became intolerable.

Results showed that 76 percent of participants treated with Mekinist in combination with Tafinlar had their cancer shrink or disappear (objective response) that lasted an average of 10.5 months. In contrast, 54 percent of participants treated with Tafinlar as a single agent experienced objective responses that lasted an average of 5.6 months. Clinical trials are ongoing to determine whether Mekinist in combination with Tafinlar improves survival.

The most common side effects reported in participants receiving Mekinist in combination with Tafinlar included fever, chills, tiredness, rash, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, peripheral edema (swelling in the hands and feet), cough, headache, joint pain, night sweats, decreased appetite, constipation and muscle pain. During clinical testing, the incidence and severity of fever increased when Mekinist was used in combination with Tafinlar.

Serious side effects included bleeding, clot formation, heart failure, skin problems and eye problems. One of the serious side effects of Tafinlar—the development of a new squamous cell carcinoma of the skin—was reduced when the drug was used in combination with Mekinist; this is consistent with the biology of the effects of these two drugs on the targeted molecular pathway. The incidence of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin in this trial was 7 percent with the combination compared to 19 percent with single agent Tafinlar. Other clinically significant side effects include kidney injury.

Women of child bearing potential should be advised that Mekinist and Tafinlar can cause birth defects in a developing fetus. Men and women should also be advised that Mekinist and Tafinlar treatment may cause infertility.

The FDA approved the combination of Mekinist and Tafinlar under the agency’s accelerated approval program, which allows the FDA to approve a drug to treat a serious disease based on clinical data showing that the drug has an effect on a surrogate endpoint that is reasonably likely to predict a clinical benefit to patients. This program provides earlier patient access to promising new drugs while the company conducts confirmatory clinical trials. The FDA also reviewed this combination of drugs under the agency’s priority review because they demonstrated the potential to be a significant improvement in safety or effectiveness in the treatment of a serious condition.

[fcs]

Here's and article my home town did on me Sunday
http://www.pharostribune.com/news/lo...tml?mode=story

Don't like being refereed to as terminal I guess if it Bleeds it Leads. I not out of the game yet.

If anyone thinks I'm the guy who gets down on his knee when he's told to so they can shoot me in the head thier F#cking nuts. You planing on killing me then your going to have to fight me first. What you going to do kill me if I don't at minim I'm going to get a chance to say F#ck you and kick you in the Nuts

[Doug Lockhart]

Update guys.....


Hi Everyone: Week of Mar 2

Met with the surgeon for follow up on Monday. Bret is doing pretty well, healing fine. He was cleared for driving, swimming, and is off the soft surgical diet. That means broccoli and Brussel sprouts are back on the menu – veggie pitas, breakfast smoothies, and plant sprouts, here we come! J

We have been waiting on whether the insurance company will pay for chemotherapy. Bret is to take a combination of 2 drugs, Tafinlar and Mekinist. Found out on Wednesday that Cigna will pay for most of treatments. We think this is good news, $7000 for each treatment. Still trying to understand what constitutes a “treatment.” He will be the oncologist’s first patient to take these. (First time around the block, Bret was the ONLY patient at the oncology office and the surgeon’s office ever to finish the entire year of interferon treatments, still is the only one. Everyone quits early, it’s too much long-term misery. He willed himself to do it for Andy.)
Bret has been craving pizza from his hometown, so he ordered 2 pizzas from Bruno’s Pizza in Logansport IN and Bruno’s DELIVERED in NC! That was pretty cool. Pizza arrived on Wednesday and there was much celebrating to the pizza gods. Thank you to Gina C. owner of Bruno’s who readily supported Bret’s craving and donated the pizza and delivery cost to get him his pizza fix.
Met with oncologist on Friday. Bret will start meds next week as soon as the pharmacy ships them. And must have an EKG baseline and a CT scan of chest for baseline before he can begin, so hopefully those will get scheduled early in the week. Follow up again with oncologist 10 days after he starts. Lots of nasty side effects listed, the fun part is you never know which ones you’ll get. Friday was a pretty low day. Meet with oncology staff on Friday 13th for side effects “training.”

Thank you to Janet C. and Roy N. who brought meals this week. Very much appreciated.

We got tickets through kidscan! and the Holt Foundation for the NCSU Syracuse basketball game on Sat, end of season game. Can I say that basketball games in the “Championship Club” rock, and definitely a step up from all other game experiences. We had a blast, really enjoyed the game. And even better, NCSU won (even though I attended, unprecedented – Jeff C. will need to be sitting down for this one!). Bret was toast after the game, had to wheelchair him out to the car. Thank you to Frank F. for taking Eric and Andy home after the game. Boys were full of all-you-can-eat breakfast, pizza, barbeque, dessert, popcorn, and soda.

So those are the highlights of the week. Insurance will help pay, long-distance pizza delivery, 2 drug combo ordered and on this week’s menu, and the Wolfpack won.

Thank you for your continued notes, texts, and emails. We love to hear from you.

Lots of love, Bret Karen Andy

[timebuilder]

Good morning, Bret and everyone!

Just think, when you beat this, the newspaper can print a retraction!!!!

[fcs]

Good morning, Bret and everyone!

Just think, when you beat this, the newspaper can print a retraction!!!!