Trek to Tampa

Ed had his appointment at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa last week. Steve, his son, came up from Ft. Lauderdale to drive us over. The trip took about four hours because of tons of traffic around Tampa.  We stayed one night at a hotel nearby.   Moffitt is part of the University of South Florida and the campus/hospital complex is huge with many, many buildings. 

We saw Dr. Jhanelle Gray, who went to medical school at Cornell. Since Ed had been to 5 oncologists (see "A Bit of Background", below) there were lots of records and disks but Dr. Gray had read them thoroughly and came in with a paper full of notes. She took her time, answering our questions as she went. A clinical trial would involve many trips to Moffitt and, considering the advanced stage of his cancer, Ed said he does not want to do that.

She gave him a prescription for an Advair inhaler to help with the breathing, along with the nebulizer and other things he’s already using. She gave two treatment suggestions. One is a pill called Tarceva. This used to be only for a certain type cancer but is now used with other types. The other option is a type of chemo called Pemetraxed. Dr. Bellam will be able handle this her in Port St. Lucie, thus avoiding that long haul to Tampa.  

Ed will decide which suggestion he wants to try first.  He also has the option not to try either treatment for now and if that's his choice, I'll try to accept it.

Ed, Steve, and I feel it was worthwhile to have made the trip, especially since the Advair is helping with Ed's breathing. 

A Bit of Background about Ed’s Cancer and Chemo

When Ed was diagnosed with lung cancer in the fall of 2008 in Virginia, he did not want to let chemo interfere with his life.  He started chemo in Virginia and we took off to Florida in our RV.  We spent part of the winter in Ft. Lauderdale, where he continued chemo, and the rest of the winter in Ft. Myers, where he finished the 2nd course in the spring of 2009.  At that point, the treatments didn’t shrink the tumors much and Ed decided to quit chemo.

He went to Dr. Augustin Schwartz in West Palm Beach after being referred by Rene Angelil (Ed’s first cousin who’s married to Celine Dion).  Dr. Schwartz monitored his spring and fall CT scans until policies changed and he no longer accepted our insurance.

The tumors stayed about the same until the fall of 2011 when growth showed.  So, he took two courses of chemo in Port St. Lucie, Florida.  The chemo didn’t work and, much to the disappointment of his oncologist, Dr. Bellam, the main tumor grew even more.  That motivated the trip to Moffitt for another opinion.