Seth's Info

I was admitted to Fox Chase yesterday (Tuesday) and started my infusion mid-afternoon. It’s an 84-hour process, which puts me into Saturday morning to finish up. I’ve got two IV’s, one in my chest port and one in my arm, each with a different drug. So far I feel fine; it will probably take a day or two to kick in. The hospital is very nice, and the staff is great – friendly and helpful. My biggest surprise was finding that the rooms have wireless internet, so I can spend lots of time on my laptop and stay in touch. Jenny spent the day with me and is taking the kids back to State College in the morning. My brother is extending his stay to help me out at the end of the week.

As I’ve had time to process the latest test results, I’m feeling a little more positive. The large tumor had stopped growing, which was our (and the doctor’s) biggest concern. Aside from the inconvenience of staying in the hospital, this new protocol is very similar to the old. Ifosfamide has had some good results with MPNST in recent studies (albeit with limited sample sizes) and is generally a quicker acting drug. We’ll probably do another set of scans after two cycles of this. The goal is still to get to where surgery is an option. I will probably post a little more detail about MPSNT in the near future; it’s hard to find good information on it, though.

The picture above is of my parents, our family, my grandfather, and my brother’s family (wife Jamie, kids Peter and Abby). We were able to catch up with them down at Sea Bright this weekend. Getting 5 kids to smile at the same time did not prove feasible!

Please drop me a line at seth.edmondson@gmail.com and let me know what you are up to. I’ve got 84 hours to kill in this room and would love to hear from all comers. Take care.

Seth