New Hope in San Francisco

Our meeting with Dr. Alan Venook at UCSF on October 15th was a success: He accepted me in the experimental chemo protocol -- Pascale and I were elated! It may not be possible for you to imagine how much this UCSF opportunity raised our spirits, after a month during which I was very sick, I had no chemo treatments, and we really didn't know if I’d ever get another drop of chemo, because conventional therapies are no longer effective.

I will be the tenth patient in Dr. Venook’s study. Good news so far: the other nine patients in the nine months the study has been in progress have not suffered much with side effects.

Abby asked the very good question: is there a control group that will be receiving placebo? The answer, happily, is NO. The experiment involves the combination of three FDA-approved drugs, gleevec, cyclophosphamide and Avastin. They have never been used in combination before, nor for this purpose. But since they are known to be safe individually, there is no placebo.

When Roger began talking with Pascale and me about my trying to become a research subject, he was somewhat noncommittal. We would ask how to find the best experiment, and he would answer that all research is unproven, so it is hard to distinguish one experiment from another. However, one thing he has been consistent about is his admiration for Alan Venook.

Dr. Venook called Roger to discuss my case the day after Pascale and I were in the city. Roger told us later, “The more I learn about the science of this experiment, the more I like it and the more it feels like a good fit for Rick.” The theory of the experimental treatment is to starve the cancer cells of blood supply, as opposed to just bludgeoning them over the head with a sledgehammer.

On Monday October 22, Pascale is taking me to UCSF for a CT-scan and electrocardiogram. We will spend the night before at James and Julie Drew’s home, which will be a really pleasant visit and make it a lot easier to get to the appointment on time.

The experimental chemo begins in earnest on Oct 24th. We will keep you posted.


An Accidental Laugh

About a week ago, I sent out an email announcing a blog update, but there was a typo in the link. The link had all the rickandpascale stuff right, but it left out the "s" in "blogspot." Amazingly, some aggressive hacker managed to claim all such typos as a direction to his own link, which happens to be a fundamentalist Christian dating service. This created a lot of confusion and then laughter. Don't worry, this Rosenthal boy is not looking for a new new team or a new girlfriend!


More Nice Moments

There have been some more nice moments in the last year, not mentioned previously.

Most important, I went to see my oldest daughter Abby and youngest daughter Marjorie in San Diego. Both of them have started relationships with really nice guys in the last year. I take my responsibility to interview new boyfriends quite seriously – just kidding, girls. But I sure like what I see. Matt makes Abby very happy and treats her really nicely. The same is true with Ryan and Marjorie, and, for that matter, it has also been true since 1999 with Graham and Claire. Not to put these guys under pressure or anything, but in case they need to know, I have serious mafia connections. Here are some pictures of Marjorie and Ryan:

Another special time was the trip Pascale and I took to the north shore of Kauai. It is the most beautiful part of the planet that either of us has ever seen so far. The trip was marred at times by severe nausea from radiation and chemo in Monterey, and from chemo administered in Kauai. But we love it. We found a reproduction of a painting by Harry Wishard of Hanalei Bay, that conveys better than any other piece of art we have seen the special feeling that we get from experiencing the unique air, light and beauty of the north shore of Kauai.