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Good news!
In November, 2009, as part of the requirements of a Phase I/II clinical trial in which Tom had been enrolled, he had to undergo a biopsy of the bone marrow in his hip bone. It is the usual way for doctors to measure the degree of presence of cancer in a patient’s bone marrow.
The result of that bone marrow test was 60% - the highest number that Tom had ever had. That part is not the good news. In addition, several of his blood count measurements, as a function of the trial drugs, were dangerously low. For example, his platelets, which control clotting of the blood, were as low as 16. A more normal platelet measurement would be somewhere between 150 and 400. With a platelet count that low, danger lurks everywhere!
Yet on January 19, Tom received the results of two bone marrow biopsies performed on January 11 – and the result of these tests was that the percentage of cancer involvement was down to 43%. THIS is the good news! And there is more . . .
Because the clinical trial in which he was enrolled was not helping him in any way – and was, in fact, harming him, the doctors decided to suspend his participation somewhere around the middle of December. However, they told him about another trial, due to begin very soon, starring pomalidomide, the next generation of the drug Revlimid which helped Tom so much in his first clinical trial.
The new trial protocol was still in legal review, plus a two-week “wash-out” period from the previous trial medications was required so that data collected in the new trial would be pristeen. So the immediate course of action was inaction. There were to be no further treatments to allow his blood counts to recover and so that he could be ready for the new trial.
Unconvinced that this new trial would be any kinder to his blood than the others, Tom began to think that he, in reality, had few treatment alternatives remaining. Over the course of this illness, he had been offered advice and information on all types of homeopathic therapies from friends and well-wishers. At that point, he decided that since he had little to lose, he would give one or two of these therapies a try.
Thomas began a regimen employing 35% food-grade hydrogen peroxide and 40x concentrate of liquid aloe vera in December – the week before Christmas. On January 4, the coordinator for the new trial called to tell Tom the pomalidomide trial had been approved and she asked him to report to the cancer center for the rigorous series of screening and baseline tests required before he could be enrolled.
One of the most important gauges of the progression of Tom’s type of myeloma is the ratio between two measurements called free kappa light chains and free lambda light chains. A normal number is between .6 and 2.0. When he left the trial, Tom’s ratio was nearly 3600. Two weeks later it was 43, a week later it is at 33!
How did this happen? We don’t know for certain, but it has to be one of two things: Either it’s a miracle or those homeopathic therapies are working! Wait – it actually might be both of the things!
Tom’s doctor, while extremely skeptical of the initial test that showed the dramatic changes, this past Wednesday admitted that because there were two tests that not only corroborated the results, but that the second test’s results were even better, the reports must be true. Right now the bottom line is this: three weeks ago the doctors feared that Tom’s blood was not strong enough to be admitted to this new trial. On January 20 they told him that, indeed, he could not be admitted – not because he was too sick, but because he is not sick enough!
Will it last? Only God knows. But Tom is feeling better than in a long time and he comes into the office regularly. Lately he has been redecorating the store, so if you haven't visited in a while, please come and check it out.
Please keep Tom, Gospa Missions, and Abode for Children in your prayers so that we may all serve God through the Blessed Virgin Mary, in a manner that gives Him glory in all we do. Thank you for your prayers and support!
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