It was another whirlwind tour to and in San Francisco. Traffic on Wednesday getting in to the city was rough, it was raining sideways, but we finally got in at 8pm.
Starting out at the UCSF Mission Bay facility on Thursday, we shuttled over to Mt Zion for EKG and blood-work, then over to the Parnassus facility for MRI and CT scans. Finishing the day at 4pm and back in the room, do we nap or check local traffic across the bridge and in Oakland, then consider throwing suitcases in the car. Getting out of the city can be rough at the end of the day but the traffic didn't look too bad so we decided to drive home late last night. There's no place like home.
Rewinding back: We had mailed UCSF November MRI, Dec CT and PET scans, pathology reports, doctors 'notes', and more. Last week we met with the the trial coordinator and principle investigator/MD, completed all of the forms/consents, etc. After the physician spoke with the sponsor and called Madison to let her know they accepted Madison. Hooray! But....
This week: We knew blood-work, MRI, CT, etc. was needed to be at UCSF and sent to the sponsor of the drug trial. Our impression was she's in (was told she's accepted), and our assumption was that fresh baseline images and workups were needed just prior to starting the drug. We were told yesterday that acceptance is conditional, that the sponsor needed to analyze everything including actual tumor tissue before it's a 'go'. So keep the prayers and positive energy flowing! Until she has the meds in her hand, we're all a tad nervous.
Next steps: Continue to usher this along without stepping on too many toes. Very hard. As with most professionals, the folks at UCSF are very busy and clinical trails have a lot of moving parts, all of which are time sensitive. On a positive note...
It's official, thanks to the Chordoma Foundation and a shout out to Patty there for coordinating and confirming that Madison's actual cancer cells were injected in to mice in an attempt to make a xenograft mouse model. Good stuff, I'd wager it's a mighty mouse model.
Starting out at the UCSF Mission Bay facility on Thursday, we shuttled over to Mt Zion for EKG and blood-work, then over to the Parnassus facility for MRI and CT scans. Finishing the day at 4pm and back in the room, do we nap or check local traffic across the bridge and in Oakland, then consider throwing suitcases in the car. Getting out of the city can be rough at the end of the day but the traffic didn't look too bad so we decided to drive home late last night. There's no place like home.
Rewinding back: We had mailed UCSF November MRI, Dec CT and PET scans, pathology reports, doctors 'notes', and more. Last week we met with the the trial coordinator and principle investigator/MD, completed all of the forms/consents, etc. After the physician spoke with the sponsor and called Madison to let her know they accepted Madison. Hooray! But....
This week: We knew blood-work, MRI, CT, etc. was needed to be at UCSF and sent to the sponsor of the drug trial. Our impression was she's in (was told she's accepted), and our assumption was that fresh baseline images and workups were needed just prior to starting the drug. We were told yesterday that acceptance is conditional, that the sponsor needed to analyze everything including actual tumor tissue before it's a 'go'. So keep the prayers and positive energy flowing! Until she has the meds in her hand, we're all a tad nervous.
Next steps: Continue to usher this along without stepping on too many toes. Very hard. As with most professionals, the folks at UCSF are very busy and clinical trails have a lot of moving parts, all of which are time sensitive. On a positive note...
It's official, thanks to the Chordoma Foundation and a shout out to Patty there for coordinating and confirming that Madison's actual cancer cells were injected in to mice in an attempt to make a xenograft mouse model. Good stuff, I'd wager it's a mighty mouse model.
