Hi everyone, 

Our last update was not very positive, so I am happy to report some news that is making us (cautiously) optimistic. 

Sean was accepted into the clinical trial and started the new drug on Monday this week. He had to go off his previous medication for a week before he could start, so we were nervous about that, but thankfully he stayed healthy. He has been staying in the Seattle area and I had to go home to Kauai, but I was able to come back to be with him this week for the start of the clinical trial.

We had a very long day on Monday at Fred Hutch, but his care team was being very thorough in making sure he is safe on the new medication. 10 hours, 4 EKGs and about a million blood draws later, we were finally able to go home! He also has had (and will continue to have) eye exams, echos, MRIs, and CT scans as part of the monitoring process throughout the clinical trial.

It’s too early to read very far into things, but what we do know is the hip pain he has been experiencing from the cancer that spread to his pelvis is diminishing. He has not experienced any side effects of the drug yet, and based on the experience of the other patients who have been taking it, the side effects are expected to be even less than that of his previous medication. He also only needs to take it once a day and it doesn’t have to be with a meal, so that makes things easier as well.

Sean will remain in the Seattle area for a while longer, as the first two cycles of the clinical trial require him to be present for a lot of appointments. He will have his first CT scan in about a month, so we are very looking forward to seeing what it shows.

Thank you all for your continued support; it means the world to us! We’ll be back with updates as they occur.

I do want to give a special shout-out to Sean’s brother, Cole, for taking care of our dogs much longer than expected last month and doing some serious yard work at our house while we were gone. Such a lifesaver, Cole, thank you!!