Dear John:
My husband was diagnosed with a sacroma in his abdomen last May. After undergoing 4 round of chemo, 2 of ifosomide/mesna and 2 of cystplantinum/adriamycin (forgive my spellings) they performed surgery to remove the tumor. It had shrunk by about 20%. The surgery last more than 11 hours and when they removed the tumor, in order to get good margins not because of spread, they resected his vena cava, his aorta, his colon and they removed a kidney. After he recovered from surgery they repeated the same rounds of chemo followed by 6 weeks of radiation. His scan in July of this year showed recurrance, mets in his lungs and liver and they now have him on Tarceva. He's broken out in a terrible rash and is generally feeling pretty lousy. In addition, he's had cervical disc problems and has just started acupuncture (after trying everything else) and it is working. My question is a blunt one--how have you managed to stay well and what are you doing to maintain your health. My husband is only 52 years old and as you can imagine we are all devasted. In the meantime, I don't want him to suffer anymore than he already has. Do you have any information about Tarceva and sarcoma. By the way, his tumor was described as a high grade schwanoma or as a malignant peripheral nerve sheath. Any help you can give would be appreciated. Thank you.