Pam Post Surgery

From: Parker, Abbie J
Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2009 6:36
Subject: Pam post surgery

Dear Friends and Family,
Pam is recovering well from the surgery she had yesterday. The doctors confirmed what they saw on the CT scan. They removed her spleen and a spot near her liver (it turned out the tumor was not actually on her liver). Unfortunately, they found more cancer in her abdominal area than what showed up on the CT scan. Dr. Perez meticulously removed any cancer found and said that the surgery went very well. Because of the amount of cancer they found, the doctors are saying she has a high chance of reoccurrence.

At this point, we are still awaiting more consultation and information from the doctors. They will begin chemotherapy treatments again soon and are discussing the possibility of a couple different clinical trials. The first is an option to include an additional drug along with the other gold standard chemotherapy drugs when they begin treatment again. The drug is known as Avastin (Bevacuzimab) and is an antibody used to inhibit the growth of new blood vessels that feed tumors (thus inhibiting tumor growth).

Interestingly, the second trial discussed by her doctors received some attention in the news yesterday. It has been especially promising for women who have had both breast and ovarian cancers. You may have seen references to it as the PARP inhibitor drug. This is not available to her until after she has completed a second set of chemotherapy treatments.
http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/06/24/1976516.aspx
Pam is remaining her same positive and happy self. She looks great and feels better than she did after her last surgery. Many people have asked what they can do and her main request is that everyone practice the power of positive thinking. Think positive thoughts for her strength and recovery. They expect to keep her in the hospital for a total of 4-5 days. Although she felt surprisingly good yesterday, she was very tired and in pain today. If you wish to visit her, please do, but it may be best to keep visits short the next couple days.

Additionally, many of you have asked how the trip to France was. In short - it was perfect. We posted some photos on her blog. http://pamspipeline.blogspot.com/
We will send another update soon.

Thanks once again to everyone for your support, prayers and help. With Much Love, Abbie and the rest of the Parker family