My doc called about 6:00 last night (guess he learned not to call too late), and I gave him an out because I had a ton of questions, I offered to e-mail them to him, to take up less of his time, and he said, no go ahead we’ll do it over the phone. He did warn me at first that he may not be able to handle all of them and that we may need to contact one of the doctors or nurses actually working on the study.
I told him I was leaning away from doing it and he said that was fine, no pressure, I need to do what I feel is right but we went through all the questions anyway. The fact that he was totally supportive of me not doing it and didn’t try to convince me, made me feel a lot more comfortable with him.
Anyway, after a lot of thought and reading a bunch of articles, and talking to him, and sleeping on it, I’ve decided not to pursue it. I think my odds are pretty good as is, and since there’s no indication that in my situation, it will greatly enhance those odds (it may turn out that it does but we just don’t know), I didn’t think it was worth the added side effects or time commitment. I guess what it comes down to for me, is I want to get back to my “normal” life as soon as I can, and this will prolong that possibility.
So I’ll call his office today and we’ll schedule my first chemo.
I have to go in an hour to get a Muga scan of my heart (he said we need that anyway), and then I have a funeral to attend, so more Italy stuff later today or tomorrow.
Clinical Trial Avastin – Not for Me
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“I think my odds are pretty good as is”
I couldn’t agree more!
Kim, your doctor sounds so supportive, a real gem.
Your decision sounds completely rational. If there is no clear upside to participating in this trial (and the thought of getting a placebo is not comforting) then what would be the point.
Your doctor not trying to convince you to do otherwise is also perhaps a telling point.
I think I would have made the same decision, just to simplify my life. Hang in there…I feel bad for you but admire the way you are dealing with this.
Let me know when the appointment is.