Seth's Info

I’m happy to report that we are back safe and sound from our big vacation. We enjoyed 7 days in Florida and everybody had a great time. CFL had provided us with 6 days of tickets to the various parks and it was almost too much to accomplish. I was happy to make it out to the parks on several days and avoided getting completely exhausted by using a wheelchair. CFL is really an amazing organization and if you are looking for a worthy cancer charity, please consider supporting them.

Our trip home was very smooth. Our flight was only half-full and arrived into Philadelphia on time. CFL had arranged for a limo to pick us up and drive us back to my parent’s place. My parents arrived home later the same day and we all agreed it was a vacation to remember. Here are another couple photos from the trip.

On the way to the park.....



Sea World Orlando



Because I had a doctor’s appointment in NY on Friday, my mother and her friend Jo Ann drove the kids back to State College on Wednesday while Jenny and I traveled into NY on Thursday. We drove into the city and stayed at a nice hotel Thursday night that was only a couple of blocks from the doctor’s office. I had a full C/T scan scheduled Friday morning with an appointment at 1pm. We didn’t get to see the doctor till after 3 (which was frustrating). As a reminder, we were doing this scan just a month after my last scan because the doctor was not happy with the way the cancer was responding to the Sorafenib. The new scan showed more of the same. There was no real reduction in any of the pelvic and abdominal masses (the largest of these measures almost 10 x 7 cm), and several metastatic nodules remain in the lungs (the largest measuring 1.3 x 1.2 cm). There are still multiple bone mets located in the lumbar and thoracic spine and pelvis as well. This news was obviously not welcome, but not unexpected either. The overall study results seem to be indicating that for sarcoma Sorafenib will be an agent best used in conjunction with other chemotherapy drugs and not just as a stand alone agent.

So the plan now is to return to my oncologist at Fox Chase (Dr Von Mehren) and begin a new, as yet undetermined, protocol with her. My New York City oncologist was happy to keep treating me, but moving treatment back to Philly will be much easier logistically. There are several chemotherapy options available, and we’ll need to discuss these with the doctor and see what she recommends. I am not happy about returning to a hard line chemo treatment, but I don’t have a lot of other options at this point. Jenny and I remain on the lookout for upcoming clinical trials that might offer new or unique treatment approaches.

In the meantime, I am looking forward to watching tonight’s Super Bowl; we are pulling for the Colts in this house. We celebrated Jack’s 8th birthday this weekend in low key fashion. It’s hard to believe it’s been 8 years since Jenny and I became parents!

I’ll keep everyone posted on what develops with my appointments at Fox Chase. Take care and enjoy the game!

Seth