sMelanoma, cancer stinks!

A Celebration of Mike Brockey's Life November 27 @ 3pm

2011-11-23T09:06:00.002-05:00

Mr. Michael Alan Brockey, 33, of Adamstown, passed away at home on Nov. 18, 2011 after a very courageous battle against cancer. He was the husband of Amy Brockey, whom he married on April 15, 2005.

Born March 10, 1978 in Front Royal, VA, he was the son of Paul, Jr. and Darlene Brockey of Middletown. He graduated from Gov. Thomas Johnson High School in 1996, and co-founded Entropyzero Consulting in 2005. He loved his kids, camping, riding his motorcycle, and dreaming up ideas for new software products.

In addition to his parents and his loving wife, Mike is survived by his three children, Kaige, Ella, and Addison Brockey; his two brothers, Timothy Paul Brockey & wife Annie, and Anthony Paul Brockey, all of Middletown; his grandparents, Paul, Sr. and Barbara Brockey of Cumberland, MD; his grandmother, Flora Mae Wilson of Wiley Ford, WV; his mother-in-law, Joni King of Frederick; his father-in-law, Terry King of Annapolis; his best friend and business partner Steven Buxton & wife Sarah of Broadlands, VA and many nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, and other relatives.

A celebration of Mike’s life will take place on Sunday, November 27, 2011 at ThorpeWood, 12805-A Mink Farm Road Thurmont, MD 21788- 1402 at 3:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Hospice of Frederick County, P.O. Box 1799, Frederick, MD 21702, or to a charity of one’s choice.
me.

PLEASE USE THE DIRECTIONS ON THE WEBSITE (http://www.thorpewood.org), YOUR NAV SYSTEM AND MAP QUEST WILL NOT GET YOU THERE!!

I am now on Vemurafenib and feeling pretty good

2011-08-22T09:01:00.003-04:00

Who knows at this point if this is just another one of those times where I've just had a dip in my health condition and I'm starting to feel better again or if this the new drug providing relief. All I can tell you is that I am feeling much better. There is pain that remains in my leg, but I am happy to say that I am only using the cane about 10% of the time. I am simply starting to feel better.

For those that are not following me on Facebook, I spent last Thursday in Philadelphia receiving my first month's supply of Vemurafenib. They say that this drug works quickly, but after only a day or two, I'm back up and walking on my own again. This drug is fantastic! There are the obvious issues with the drug as we talked about before, but I think at this point we are going to take what we can get.

Anecdotally, this drug causes new pain which is supposedly the process of the tumors breaking down. I can tell you that there is new pain in my body going on right now. Could this be Vemurafenib doing it's thing? I sure hope so ...

Wednesday of last week, Vemurafenib received it's FDA approval. Now they can officially start their clinical trials which are combining both Vemurafenib with Ipilimumab. Thought being that the combination of drugs could provide the knock out punch. Dr Lynn Schuchter, who is the oncologist overseeing my Vemurafenib treatment is one of the main researchers who started this clinical trial. As you can imagine, she was ear to ear with excitement when she found out that I am basically her first clinical patient as I've already taken the combination. Hopefully we can provide her with some great study information prior to her actually starting her new trial.

I'm not quite sure yet what the timeline is for scans and reports etc. I do know I'll be in Philadelphia again next month to get another round of pills. I'll get more information then. This last time, I think I was more anxious just to get my hands on the drugs.

I'm feeling good now. Taking it easy on the work front again, basically working from home. I plan to show my face from time to time, especially as I start to get even better. I'm just trying to take things slow and not get ahead of myself.

Preparing for Vemurafenib to Wipe Out my Melanoma and my Pain

2011-07-27T06:17:00.004-04:00

I just received my sixth and what should be my final dose of Yervoy. Let me take a step back and tell you what I've been up to. I met with Dr Lynn Schuchter in Philadelphia about two weeks ago which turned out to be very informative. Dr Schuchter works at UPENN and is the study coordinator for Plexxikon's Vemurafenib, or PLX4032 as I used to reference it on this blog. She has been working with Melanoma patients for many years, and is probably one of the leading and most recognized names in Melanoma research in the world.

As it turns out, Dr Schuchter was extremely pleased with my Yervoy pretreatment and has been timing our plan in a way that I was still able to receive this final dose before switching over to Vemurafenib.

Much like how I had been granted access to Yervoy, Vemurafenib is now in a phase 4 open access compassionate use trial setting. This means that I nor my insurance company will be paying for it, but it also means that I have to qualify for this new trial. There are three things that are happening now as prerequisite to my trial admission. I am scheduled to receive a brain MRI this morning and chest CT next week. Also my melanoma block was transferred from Frederick Memorial Hospital to Plexxikon so that they can re-run the BRAF studies to ensure that I am in fact a match for their drug.

One reason that I've been dragging my feet with this drug is that you hear so many times the story of great success and regression followed by a period of relapse and even more aggressive tumor growth. This still scares me. What is different now is that while the relapse might still occur when new "pathways" open up and trigger the cancer to start rapidly multiplying once again -- there are now other drugs in the pipeline that are beginning to target these other pathways. This remission period has been know to be anywhee from 3 to 13 months on average. There are some subjects who have been in complete remission for well over two years and are still going strong.

When you combine the the fact that my tumors have always been of the slow growing type, I've managed to change my entire life style and eating habits, I've now been pretreated with six doses of Yervoy which has trained my body to look for and fight Melanoma -- I actually like my odds moving into this round of drug treatment. The side effects are low, the promise of releif is huge -- it's all about the duration. If I could get another 13 months (or more) of pain free living -- I'm game.

Radiation treatment is complete. But what about BRAF?

2011-06-29T11:11:00.006-04:00

For those of you who have friended me and have been following me on Facebook, you know that I've been back to see the radiation oncologist and decided to receive another round of treatment. This time I was treated with CyberKnife technology which is a lot more accurate and allows us to hit a more defined area of cancer with even more radiation. I will likely receive more intense side effects than before, but the treatment area is smaller so the long term effect would be minimized.

This morning, I finished my second and final CyberKnife treatment for this round. Now we wait and see what happens. I'll go back and get another CT on August 25 to see the status of the melanoma in my leg.

I also just this morning received a call from Dr Spira, who indicated that I do in fact have the BRAF mutation! The number seems to change based on who you speak with, but considering that only 20 - 30% of melanoma patients have this mutation, I am quite lucky to be one of those.

This news of course opens up new opportunities for me on the treatment front. The recently named Vemurafenib from Plexxikon, formerly known as PLX4032, has been making headlines of late showing amazing durable remissions in treated patients. You may remember my TV interview when Vemurafenib made it's media break through. I'm pretty excited about finally being eligible.

There of course some caveats. Dr Spira believes that I will "get more mileage" from the BRAF drug over my current Ipilimumab treatment. There are rules that prevent one from being on both drugs, so once we find a program to have me enrolled, I will stop receiving Ipilimumab, possibly for good.

So far the closest treatment facility appears to be in Philadelphia. What's nice about this drug is that it is a pill. I will have a vial of pills, and I'll simply take two pills a day. Forever.

For many who have been on the drug there is a window of time where the drug remains active. Because cancer doesn't play by any given rules, it is also well known to stop responding to this treatment where the cancer then comes back, usually more aggressive. Worse yet, if this happens we are at the end of treatment options. That's it. That's all we have.

There are documented cases where patients who have been receiving this drug and have shown continued durable complete responses for well over two years. All we can do is hope that I can be part of that group.

Latest PET Result Indicates Progression

2011-05-25T16:38:00.004-04:00

I know that it's been a couple of months since I've last posted. I had just received the results that indicated my treatment plan was working. I was basically living with a clear head and not scared about my melanoma, after all it was the cancer, not me that was dying. -- I know that I've worried some of you by not posting but, after two years of living with stage IV melanoma, it was nice to have a period of time where I could live a little and spend some real time with my family while not worrying about cancer.

That time has once again ended. My latest scan results shows that the cancer that was dying out in my last scan has returned and is active once again. This progression qualifies me for another round of Ipilimumab (Yervoy).

Over the past few weeks, I had the same skin irritations and flare ups as I did during my first treatment phase which indicated that the drug was working. Because of this I had high hopes heading into this PET scan. At the same time, I had new pains as well as my leg pain had started to get worse which were all signs leading towards progression. I suppose I was in denial, which is probably why I was a little lackadaisical in getting the scan scheduled in the first place.

June 3rd -- I'll go back in and discuss further treatment options. I believe I'll start the re-induction phase of Ipilimumab. We also talked about it being time to get a biopsy of a live tumor to see if I have the BRAF mutation which would make me eligible for another trial drug that has had some real success recently.

Ipilimumab is working, here is the whole story.

2011-03-15T10:14:00.005-04:00

Many of you received my Facebook update regarding my latest news, though it was very exciting I wanted to share with you the whole story. I don't know why I scheduled that particular doctor's appointment to fall on my birthday. Maybe after two years, I was simply gambling on receiving some good news so that I could really enjoy this one. Whatever the case, as the doctor closed the door and wished me a happy birthday, he confirmed for me that he had some really good news for me.

After reading the reports from the scan myself, I'll tell you it is not as cut and dry as he stated. He told me that the real trouble with Ipilimumab is that it acts so differently with each case. Results are solely based on the individual and include a number of varying factors. This is when Dr Spira told me that many of my tumors are either already dead or are currently in the process of dying. I have large areas of necrotic tissue where the tumor mass remains, but there is no longer any cancerous activity. I have other areas of small growth, but when all things are considered -- I've received a great benefit from this drug, and I am now classified as a respondent.

We always knew that I would get worse before getting better on this drug. The belief is that inflammation around the tumors as they were dying has been causing the pain that I've been feeling. I continue to have pain on my side, which is a result from the dead tumor which sits on top of my spleen. If my condition continues to improve and all the tumors do wind up dead, I am told there is a process in which the body will eventually absorb this dead tissue, but this will all take some time.

From what I've read, the FDA is supposed to report their findings by March 26. We should find out if Ipilimumab will receive approval for it's commercial use. If this happens, I can guarantee that I will "qualify" for another round. Otherwise, my case will have to be approved by the company's medical review board to determine if they think I can benefit from another treatment.

My next appointment with Dr Spira is on the 12th of April where I'll learn more about future treatment options. Though I got really good news this last time, this battle if far from over. As we all know by now, cancer is ugly and can become resistant and even come back with a vengeance.

Finally some good news. Possible delayed response from Ipilimumab.

2011-02-28T10:16:00.010-05:00

I had a doctor's appointment on Friday which for the first time since starting this melanoma battle I got some good news. I though that Dr Spira might start doing jumping jacks in the exam room as he over and over again expressed how good that I looked. The last time time he had seen me was right after my hospital stay where I was doubled over in so much pain that they had me drowned in all sorts of pain medication. At that appointment, he was talking about hospice care and he even called me "sick." His gave me his personal cell phone number to call him if I needed help while we were away on our Disney vacation, he was certain that he'd receive a phone call from me. He was telling a different story this time. He was really excited to see me in such good condition especially knowing that I've been greatly reducing my pain medication. You see, pain from cancer just doesn't go away. Unless, of course, the cancer is going away.

"Clinically speaking, from everything we see, I think you have received a delayed response from Ipilimumab. I now think that the drug is working.", I believe were his exact words.

The original timeline was for me to get another set of scans in the beginning of March as it is known that the drug can take some time to activate. It is also known that patients tend to get worse before they get better. This is the frustrating thing about Ipilimumab. The hope is that patients are not so sick that they can afford to get a little sicker in the first place. For many this is just not the case. I'll now go back to Washington Hospital Center and get another scan to find out for sure. If the results show that I am stable or that the tumors have in fact regressed, I may be eligible for another round of Ipilimumab.

This is extremely exciting news!! We've never had this kind of possitive news from the medical insitution. Sure they've been happy to see me before and unable to explain why I look so good so far into a melanoma diagnosis. Never have any of these doctors been able to tell me that they actually think something is working. This is exactly what I needed as it is once again refreshed me mentally for the continued fight. I will, of course, update again once I know the results for sure.

Home from Vacation -- Let the Radiation Begin

2011-02-14T16:07:00.004-05:00

We've been home from vacation for a few days now and I realized that I never posted an update on the blog. Everyone who follows me on Facebook already knows that we had an amazing and successful trip without too much drama. The pain stayed away and everyone had a great time!

Now that I am back, I had my appointment with Dr Lee, the local radiation doctor. Because the cancer is in my leg and away from more sensitive areas, I should receive quite a bit of benefit from the treatment without too many side effects. Dr Lee indicates that generally results with bone cancer are very good. -- I do have my reservations. I've managed to stay away from hard core chemotherapy and radiation up to this point and I've managed to stay quite healthy. I'm nervous that starting now might put me into a tail spin that I cannot control. We are at a point where the benefits outweigh the risk and it's worth a shot. That therapy will begin on Thursday and will be daily for about 3 to 4 weeks.

Anyone who has been following my story via the blog is certainly a friend in my book and in order to receive more frequent updates, I would recommend that you friend me on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/PHaldon

Be sure to include a message indicating that you are following my story on the blog so that you don't get categorized as spam, but please do get in touch. I've uploaded a bunch of photos from the trip to my Facebook account.

Today has been a long day coming. How all of a sudden a thing can change.

2011-02-02T18:43:00.010-05:00

Today has been an eye opening for me if I have ever known one. I explained it at one point as the being the single most strangest in all my 32 years. Let me just update to let everyone know that I had my update with my oncologist yesterday and things were a little less "normal" than they have been in the past. They weren't based on any real findings or new results, but from the general images that were gathered from my previous trip to the hospital, things have gotten worse.

Things are bad enough where Dr Spira is no longer hopeful that Ipilmumab is working, and I am now what he considers a "cancer patient." He certainly could have pulled the plug in my upcoming vacation, but he didn't -- and for that I am glad. I think we're gonna need the break. He didn't draw any new blood work, but he did order a BRAF mutation screen against my original melanoma block to see if I am eligible for one of his other pills. Now certainly, Ipi could still be working, where they have reported regressions at over year after treatment. For the first time, it no longer looks like time is playing very nicely into my hands.

Since the hospital I've been hiccuping and have been in pretty severe pain. Dr Spira calls this reference pain that is being felt near the bottom of my liver by the nerve endings on the capsule. I've been able to come off the morphine but am on a pretty loyal dose of Oxycoton and a fentanyl patch on my arm. Over the past few days it has also been increasingly difficult to keep foods down. Now I'm not sure if I had just been a brain fuzz with all these new drugs, but this a'int good news folks. It's been difficult to keep down foods even throughout today, until Amy made me, you guessed it some vegetable broth and a potato. It was while I was finally holding this food down when it call came back so clear to me, why I did Gerson in the first place. I did Gerson before I was ever even sick, and so I don't know that even how vigorous we were following to the therapy, that I totally grasped the full ideas behind it.

My leg pain has been at it's worst today than ever before. Because of the hospital visits, I never got it for my initial alignments etc so that'll be the first thing I do when I return from Florida. I need to get some relief.

Of course I've joked about this in the past, but today was the first time I've even considered using "medical marijuana" to help keep down some of the food. In the weeks ahead, maryland legislators are working to pass a bill to make it legal in the State of Maryland. There are still obvious time considerations and federal jurisdictions to consider.

I had a reiki healer introduced into my life today. She was kind and gave me an hour of her time of what I considered to be a very peaceful, spiritual and eye opening experience. I'm not a very spiritual person, but now after speaking with her I now believe that my grand father is watching over me, helping me fight.

Since my two year battle started, I am finally at a point where I consider myself "sick." Not really a place that I ever wanted to consider myself, and I am scared. I don't know if I've been living under a rock this whole time or what, but I feel like my cancer survivorship started today. And now that it is all written down, I feel like I can still be a winner. I know that I can beat this.

An update from home

2011-01-30T11:21:00.003-05:00

I have now been home from the hospital since Thursday. I've been doing much better pain wise, though they have me pretty well medicated at home. I would prefer a reduction, they still have me on a bunch of oral morphine and a daily fentanyl pain patch. My current goal is to make make a good impression for the doctor on Tuesday so that I'm allowed my upcoming family vacation.

Nights have been interesting and the days have been getting better. I've been going longer and longer without needing a day time nap to reenergize. A few more days like this, I'll be good as new.

The Brockey's and the Buxton's have a family disney cruise vacation scheduled just ahead. We'll be spending a few days in the park and then heading off on the brand new Disney Dream ship! I plan to enjoy this year's super bowl on ship's huge family deck monitor. It should be a real blast!

I wanted to thank everyone for their warm comments, thoughts and flowers and send this quick update to let everyone know that I am where I need to be, back home with my family.

Recent occurrences of pain have me in the hospital.

2011-01-27T06:07:00.012-05:00

After experiencing a few recent incidents of absolute crippling pain in my right side and a couple trips to the emergency room, I decided it was time to update everyone as best I could. Though the pain is now under control, our best guess is that the tumor is finally pressing up against something and potentially causing some inflammation.

This series of events all started after receiving Zometa treatment on the 14th of January. I was supposed to get a slight fever and have a day or two of flu like bone stiffness. Instead what I got was a fever that lasted until Monday at times each over 104.3. I was seen by the doctors on Tuesday where they drew a couple bacteria cultures, regular blood work and we as a flu culture. Nothing yet has come back abnormal, which means that it could have been an unfortunate consequence of flu bug that was just gone by time it was tested for.

The next Friday on the 21st while sitting at the office. I started having some strong pains in my stomach. I went home and by the evening I found a couple positions that I could lay i that would help reduce the pain. I was able to sleep but woke up at about 2 AM with that same pain coming back on strong. I fought the pain until the morning, but then decided it was time to visit the ER. After some blood work, CT scan and a couple pieces of chocolate the Dr diagnosed me with possible pleurisy (inflammation around the lung tissue) or muscle spasms in my chest wall. He mentioned that even if he were totally wrong and the pain was somehow tumor related, the treatment would pretty much be the same. So he prescribed me valium and recommended 600mg Ibuprofen every 6 hours to keep down inflammation. He sent me home and I was doing pretty well taking it pretty easy.

Back to work on Monday and things started changing agains pretty rapidly. Though I already had a follow up at my oncologists's office for the next day, they wanted me to come in right away to see what was going on. They wanted me on a stronger pain medication but were pretty adamant about not covering any signs on additional fever so they sent me home with a bottle of Oxycodone. I took one immediately and another soon after when the pain didn't seem to go away. The pain got bad enough so I asked Amy to drive me home. We didn't make it out of the parking garage before we decided I just need to get get to the ER. I was bent over in agonizing pain, I just litterally could not breathe. We called our research nurse who told me to take another 2 oxy and get to the ER. We called Steven down from the office and he drove us to the closest hospital where they immediately doped me up on morphine. Needless to sy, at that point ... I wasn't feeling much of anything.

I've since been transferred to INOVA Fairfax Hospital. This is where my oncologist, Dr Spira and his associates have hospital practicing privileges. It has been a lot of wait and see. I'm on some steroids to treat the inflammation now. Ive been having a tough time keeping anything down (I blame all the dope) but they have me scheduled for an MRI. Seems like that will happen sometime this morning.

Af of last night, I've been able to keep down some food and some drink, so I'm heading in the right direction. They moved we away from the constant pain medicine drip. I'm now on a much less aggressive pain patch with access to a patient controller pain med button should I need it.

All things considered after living with Melanoma for more than two years, this has been my first real complication. Let's just hope that the Ipilimumab will pick up the pace and rid my body of this disease.

Results from PET Scan

2010-12-21T12:19:00.002-05:00

The doctor is claiming to not at all be surprised that my melanoma has in fact continued to grow since starting the treatment. He indicates that though there have been mixed results, the typical case does not see any regression for what could be months after the last treatment. Dr Spira indicates that seeing as how I've already lived more than two years with melanoma, the slow growth pattern makes me an ideal candidate for this drug. -- There are have been plenty who simply could not even finish the treatment.

It wasn't until after the third dose that my skin rash even showed up. It took a month longer and another dose for it to get to its current annoying state. From all that I can gather, this is certainly a good sign that the drug is actually reacting -- but it also shows that it is going to take it's sweet time.

From the gate, Dr Spira has been preparing us not to expect much after the first scan, so as disappointing as it is, I still feel good about my treatment choice.

The treatment is now over and so now we wait. I will go back for blood work and a basic checkup at the end of January, and it looks like we'll have more scans sometime around my 33rd birthday on March 10th. I sure hope that Dr Spira is working on the greatest gift of all for my birthday.

Fourth Ipilimumab dose is complete!

2010-11-30T12:58:00.003-05:00

So now it's time to celebrate! Actually, the celebratory blue cupcake was at my daughters third birthday party. But it also seemed fitting for this post. My labs are still good, and at my last check up -- The doctor was again "unimpressed" with my very mild side effects. Since the third dose, I've gotten sick one time and I've got a slightly itchy-rashy spot on my back. But otherwise am in great condition, mind and spirit. Dr Spira basically congratulated me and told me that I would have seen any major side effects by now, and that I've simply sailed through the protocol.

The next step will be to wait a few weeks and then have another whole body PET/CT, which is scheduled for the 10th of December. I will meet with him a few days after and determine the next step. The protocol has changed and it looks like they will mostly likely hold off on the second course of treatment. Everything depends on the outcome of my scan, but the drug company wants to also measure success after the first course of four treatments. I am prepared with my argument should we reach that point, but it all hinges on the result of the scan.

I've got all the drug in me now, so now is the time to wish me luck. We need all those monoclonal antibodies to do their work and wipe out this cancer for good.

Fighting Melanoma: An update after three doses of Ipilimumab

2010-11-18T08:44:00.007-05:00

I have now received three doses of Ipilimumab. I would say that I am still doing extremely well. My weight remains stable and I continue to feel fine. I have one more dose scheduled on Tuesday, November 30. I will then get another PET/CT scan on December 10. From what I understand, the results from the first scan are widely mixed and most patients continue on and receive another 4 doses.

I have finally started feeling some effects from the drug. Tuesday morning was rough for me. I woke up feeling warm all over and quite a bit nauseous. Not long after I had to rush to the bathroom where I did get sick. After speaking with my research nurse, the doctor wanted to me to take compazine which interestingly enough treats both nausea and schizophrenia.

Since then I've continued to feel only a little queazy, but nothing like Tuesday morning. I've not yet taken any of the pills.

My leg continues to bother me with that dull and annoying pain. I was scheduled to receive Zometa, which is a bone hardening agent. They want to shore up my bones which would both alleviate pain as well as provide at least some level of protection from a bone fracture. Turns out that my recent dental work was still too recent for this treatment. Having the tooth extraction created two areas where bone needs to be regenerated which take on average three months to complete. Zometa can cause a condition called Osteonecrosis which would essentially cause necrotic bone tissue to form in my jaw. I definitely don't want that, so we'll go ahead and wait the additional month.

I currently manage the pain with 800mg of Ibuprofen once or sometimes twice per day. If the pain worsens, I could opt for focal radiation to the leg, but I will do my best to avoid that for now.

I've continued showing up for work a few times per week now, which seems to be working out well. I've been able to find organic food options at both of my commuting destinations which include DC and Reston. All in all -- I'm happy, generally healthy and continue to focus on growing old with my friends and family. That's all any of us can really do.

Ipilimumab - Take Two

2010-10-20T09:37:00.000-04:00

I've now received my second dose of ipilimumab and so far so good. Just like everyone else that I've spoken to who are receiving the drug, we are all handling the early treatments with little to no effects. Once again after this dose, I feel fine. I continue to have a huge appetite, sleep well and have all my energy.

Over the past three weeks I've changed things up quite a bit. I'm now eating a wider range of fruits and vegetables and I've introduced some bread and a little cheese into my diet. It has been an exciting time around the house recently as we are once again planning and preparing meals for the week ahead. Now that I am getting a wider variety of foods I have noticed that the joint pain in my wrist has gone away. I'm also up about 10 pounds and holding steady at around 150.

One interesting thing to note from yesterdays appointment was from my blood work results. As I've been reporting for sometime my LDH has been on a slow and steady rise. That momentum has finally changed and for the first time it has actually dropped. It was down about a 100 points from where we were just three weeks prior. Though Dr Spira suggests that this is nothing to get too excited about because it could be a chemo-reactive response. We both agreed that a down response is much better than up.

In the next few weeks I'll be working with my doctors to get on the list to receive Zometa to shore up my leg while I await my durable complete response from ipilimumab. This will be another infusion that will be administered every month while I need it.

I am now working outside of the house twice per week. I've truly been lucky to have such great business partners and an understanding customer while spending the last year dealing with this crap. We are only a few months away and I should be good as new. Like a fine wine, I'll return aged and sport that vintage look with my white hair.

Progress in My Healing Plan: Bring on the White Hair!

2010-09-27T09:33:00.009-04:00

I'm moving away from Gerson. I'm eating a wider range of foods. My root canal has been extracted. I've managed to acquire access to an adjuvant treatment. I've been accepted in the Ipilimumab trial for extended access. It's been crazy, but it has all been working out quite well.

I've moved away from the strict Gerson regimen and have began working on a new menu and diet plan. I will be following the many guidelines from other "cancer diets" and will continue to maintain a low-fat, low-sodium vegetarian diet. I plan to add in legumes, berries and some of the "super foods" that are widely talked about today. I will continue to steer clear from highly processed and other chemically enhanced foods.

This change puts a rather large hole in my schedule. After all, I'm only doing one coffee enema per day and my juicing schedule is much more relaxed. I've managed to get to work a few times last week, and I plan on making a continued appearance. I was able to go out and spend the day with my son, and am currently trying to plan a weekend camping trip -- a trip that should be much more relaxing than the last.

My mouth is now clear of dental issues or mistakes. The lymph node that was once under my jaw has now cleared. As expected, it was due to the infection which triggered the initial extraction. I've since also had my root canal removed. This clears the last bit of mercury amalgam as well as the possible breeding ground for bacteria. Now I hope, my body's immune system can focus on bigger issues.

I was able to get a prescription of Low-Dose Naltrexone (LDN) have been taking it nightly for a couple weeks. I did experience the as-advertised vivid dreams for the first night or two, so I know that my body was able to accept the medicine. I think it is important to include as an adjuvant and based on there being no negative impacts, my doctor agrees.

It was a bit of a run around, but I finally got in touch with Dr Spira from Virginia Cancer Specialists. Apparently they have expanded even further the access for receiving Ipilimumab. I will be included in the first group of those being treated at this facility with the drug, a fact that turns out to be a moot issue since all facilities must strictly follow the same protocol setup for the clinical trial.

Amy and I had a good conversation with the doctor. We both liked him and not simply because of his impromptu impersonation of Dr Sharfman. It was friendly, but it was funny and dead on accurate. Dr Spira did indicate that clinical trials are different and is one case where it is less about my "interviewing" him and more about him seeing if I am am a fit for the trial. Even still, I decided to tell all and hide nothing. He told me that I could continue with my reduced "Gerson schedule" as well as LDN during my treatment. He warned only that I should not have any vaccines, recently or for a period of time beyond the treatment.

A few of you reached out after my previous post and offered your help in finding the Melacine vaccine. I really appreciated that. After a few phone calls and a chat with "a lady in Canana who's job it is to assist Americans receive Canadian health care", we found out that Melacine is in fact no longer commercially available. I could once again look around for the black market variety, but after my talks with Dr Spira, I suppose this should probably fall out of my current plan.

In preparation for the trial I had to have more bloodwork, an EKG and a head CT. All of which came back clean. I am able to use my recent PET scan as a baseline, but since it was a few weeks ago it puts me on a short time table. If I wanted or needed more time, I would have to get another scan. Since I am ready to go, they booked me for Tuesday, September 28.

Amy and I will go to the clinic in the morning. I will receive a 90 minute infusion into a vein in my arm. They want to monitor me for an hour or more at this first appointment, but then I'll be sent home. There are a number of things I'll need to monitor on my own, but it "should" be nothing like IL2 or chemo. I'll return every three weeks for another infusion for 4 weeks total. After a few weeks, we will scan and check for status. Initially seeing slight progression is apparently common for this drug. It's my understanding that unless things are clearly not working, I would be eligible for another round of 4 treatments.

From all that I have read, the common and early indication of remission and long durability is that my hair will turn white. My son made reference to wizardry, perhaps Merlin or Dumbledore. Another as offered by my friend Patty, while keeping it long I would look like a Tai Chi Grand Master. I guess I had better stop missing class.

My Healing Plan

2010-09-07T13:49:00.034-04:00

After being fully committed to the Gerson Therapy for a year, it is clear that detox and diet alone will not be enough to reverse my Stage IV Malignant Melanoma. It is now apparent that my case will require the inclusion of some more conventional treatments. I am of course disheartened by the news. Much like others have indicated, I thought I could be the next to heal naturally. In the wake of these developments and after speaking with and considering information from several resources, Amy and I have put together a rather robust plan that is both realistic and curative. It is our intention to leverage the best treatments, adjuvants and life style choices that are both available and real. I would like to share with you, "My Healing Plan".

The Gerson Therapy will remain a critical component of my life. This new healing plan will introduce treatments that will interfere and force me to slow the detoxification process. In preparation of this, I have already started to follow a reduced schedule. Though it would never stand up to critical comments like those from Jon, to someone who is not familiar with the extreme schedule, it will continue to seem like a therapy. This change allows me to stay proactive and for once, I can be relieved knowing that there will be days where the schedule is not perfect.

I will remain on the Gerson diet. I've grown fond of it over the past year, and it is super easy to plan for and prepare. I also still believe that the food we eat is critical to our health and after doing it for a year, I want to ensure that I am as prepared as I can be as I move closer to receiving conventional treatments. I have yet to cheat on the diet but, I intend to enjoy a "blue cupcake" at Ella's third birthday party in November.

I blogged recently about the removal of my mercury amalgams and tooth extraction. My one remaining dental issue is a dead tooth that has had a root canal. This is the next item on "My Healing Plan" as it already scheduled to come out on Tuesday, September 14 by Dr Sambataro.

It may seem that I've rushed into the tooth extraction, but with good reason. With the recent news of bone metastases, I am now running against a new clock. I've only felt dull and very minor discomfort in my leg from the cancer. As time goes on, it will surely spread and grow increasingly painful. The spread could also weaken my leg bone. Dr Jang recommends Zometa to harden the bone and prevent a break. The combination of dental work and Zometa is dangerous as it causes Osteonecrosis. If things speed up, radiation to the leg becomes another choice. Since having the root canal removed is critical in "My Healing Plan", there is no time like now.

I have also decided to begin taking Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) as an adjuvant therapy. Naltrexone is a commercially available drug that is used to treat and reduce the effects of certain drug addiction. If taken at night and at a low dose, it tricks the brain and causes a flood of endorphins to be released into the blood stream. With virtually zero side effects, it has been used to successfully manage symptoms from multiple sclerosis and other auto immune disorders. Because it is an immune system stimulator, it has been linked to and there are studies occurring now in cases with cancer that are believed to respond to the immune system like Melanoma.

I've also come across some information about a vaccine that was, at one time, studied in the United States for early stage melanoma called Melacine. It is a disease specific vaccine that contains actual melanoma lysates obtained from human cancer cells. When combined with other proprietary components that make up their vaccine, it is believed to train the human immune system to recognize and fight melanoma. In combination with other immune boosting efforts, this might help provide a wallop might overcome my disease. The problem is that though it is commercially available in Canada as an approved treatment for Stage IV Melanoma, it was never submitted to the FDA. It is quite possible that I get the opportunity to entertain some hockey lessons in my search and travels to obtain this vaccine.

The final step in "My Healing Plan" is to receive the immunotherapy drug Ipilimumab. This drug has been all the rage and accounts of success are stacking. What I've read most recently is that long term durable remission has been linked with a particular side effect. The drug is supposed to activate the immune system and with any luck it will attack the melanocytes. Thats when depigmentation begins. Starting with the eye brows, Ipilimumab treated survivors lose the coloring of their hair.

This is "My Healing Plan". It can also be found as a list, that I plan to update as we move forward. My plan focuses on living and boosting my immune system. What it allows me to do is live a healthy life and entertain real treatment options that have become available since starting this journey nearly two years ago. I know that my change of treatment might offend some readers, but given where things are the change was inevitable. I am now more confident than ever that I will one day realize full health. I hope that you will continue to fight by my side.

Things to consider, lists to be made.

2010-09-03T09:10:00.004-04:00

It was an easy decision to begin the Gerson Therapy nearly a year ago because at the time, there were no other options for treating melanoma. Sure there were early clinical trials and chemo drugs that could be used to break down tumors, but nothing that didn't offer more damage than hope. I am unable to totally write off the Gerson Therapy as having not worked because it is supposed to take a full two years. All things considered, the decision practically makes itself.

One option is to stay the course and continue on the Gerson Therapy for at least another year. I would have to, without a doubt, change things up and somehow more heavily focus on it as a therapy versus a way of life. I'd have to hire someone full time to simply take over and do everything for me. I'd have to even more so, alienate my friends, family and those that I work with. The issue here relates to the fact that I now have bone metastases. If the tumor grows and begins to fracture or break my leg bone, I'll have to resort to pain medications, which will drastically reduce or nullify the therapy. This will force me to look for alternatives, but because of damage my options will be even fewer.

There is now an option for those suffering from Stage IV Malignant Melanoma. An option that is neither chemotherapy, nor requires a long term hospital stay for treatment. Of course, I am talking about Ipilimumab and it does not come without it's own side effects and possible long term effects. There is seemingly sound logic and science behind it and it coincides with the same genre of healing the body versus traditional approaches that aim to kill the cancer and accept the collateral damage.

It has been been recommended by several people, and most recently my Gerson doctor agrees. Looking at all the facts, considering where we are after a year on the therapy. Knowing that tumor growth can sometimes be accepted, but spread means something totally different. I need to make a change.

Though it appears the evidence has become overwhelming, that doesn't allow me to suddenly change anything. As you might expect, there is a waiting list to receive this drug. Many of you have sent me recommendations for other treatments, doctors and other helpful resources. It is my intention to look through them over the next few days and begin to build a list. I'll be calling doctors and asking questions to see if there are other options that I should consider. I'll also see if I can get on a shorter waiting list to receive the treatment.

Besides the now obvious reminder that something is there, I am still very healthy and once again in good spirits. I will slowly ease off the Gerson Therapy and possibly even broaden my menu to something a little less restrictive, which is on my list of things to research. I will attempt to post more frequent updates as things occur, things could get quite interesting.

Progression is clear. The future is not.

2010-09-02T09:25:00.004-04:00

It's taken a few days and several rewrites to get my thoughts out for this blog posting. I'm not after perfection, instead it is all about using the right tone. After meeting with Dr Jang on Tuesday, it is clear that my disease has not only continued to grow, it has also continued to spread.

I still have several small tumors throughout. The target lesion on my liver has increased in size. The large tumor on my spleen has continued to grow. I once again have a growth on my left adrenal gland. I now have bone involvement in my right leg, which explains some recent dull irritation. Though not confirmed, I additionally have concerns about some pain that I feel in my right arm.

All things considered, and to the credit of the Gerson Therapy, I have now lived for 15 months with Stage IV Malignant Melanoma without, or with very mild symptoms. My doctor says that this is a result of my IL2 treatment. Regardless, seeing as how the average life expectancy is 6 to 9 months while mostly sick, I guess I really should not complain.

I have been looking closely at the new headlining drugs PLX4032 and Ipilimumab as possible avenues but they both come with their own criticisms. After speaking with a few people, I've also gained some interest in looking at possible vaccine options, though not any of the ones that are currently being offered in the US seem promising.

The third option would be to stay the course. Figure out some way to even more aggressively isolate myself from the world and rely solely on the words and wisdom of Dr Max Gerson. The fact that I still feel good, to me, gives credit to his madness. I just know that if I am to jump ship and try a radical treatment as only the western medical practice can offer, now is the time.

I am scared like hell to stop this therapy.
I am scared like hell to stay the course.
I am scared like hell to try anything else.
I am scared like hell to not try.

PET Scan follow up with Dr Venna

2010-08-26T14:17:00.001-04:00

I had a follow up appointment with Dr Venna at Washington Hospital Center today regarding my recent PET scan and the outcome was rather unexpected. By the end of our discussion both he and I agreed that we do not have enough information to make an objective determination as to the over status of my disease. On one hand, we have a PET scan that shows a body that has active malignancies. On the other we know that for someone like me to have malignant melanoma for more than a year and I'm still alive is strange. He admitted to me that there is a disconnect in knowing my history and seeing how alive and well I am actually doing. "You really did look great, Mr Brockey!", he said in an excited but totally professional tone.

As I've been reporting on the blog, my LDH has been slowly climbing. The last blood work now has me at a level of 440 where the upper level should be at about 250. By no means is the 440 figure alone all that worrisome, but the rising pattern indicates something going on. Now we just have to figure out what that something is. As Dr Cervantes indicated and Dr Venna confirmed, if we have tumors breaking down they too would release the same enzymes and cause the LDH marker to increase. So a rising LDH could be good, or a rising LDH could be bad. So how do we find out which it is? I'm gonna have to go back in for the diagnostic CT, it is the only way to know for sure.

I also asked Dr Venna to help me think clearly about cancer, the immune system and my current approach. All the voodoo this and green tea that aside, I asked him to consider that my simple approach at basically providing my body everything that it needs and giving it nothing that it doesn't, would it be possible for the human body to eventually correctly identify and rid itself of this cancer. I was satisfied by his answer in that he didn't discount it and further agreed that the human body does in fact have the mechanisms required for the job.

He wants me to meet with Dr Jang, who is new to Washington Hospital Center and from what I understand is another young face in this field. Dr Venna believes that I should work with him so that we can better track my progress and consider all options. I'm not totally against the meet and greet and will do so on Tuesday.

Healing with Dentistry and without Drugs

2010-08-26T13:42:00.000-04:00

When you live with cancer, it makes you think about things a little bit differently. No longer are the meals that I eat, or the people than I share my time with taken for granted. I am fully aware of all of the environmental toxins around us. It even forces one to look back and consider all the toxins that over time, we have placed in our own body. It's not quite common but did you know that the silver fillings in your teeth actually contain mercury? As you should already know mercury is both extremely toxic and bad for your health!

It is called an Amalgam filling and practitioners on the Gerson Therapy are commonly recommended to visit a biological dentist after being on the therapy to have them removed. Over the past few years, I've had my amalgams removed from the normal dentist who claimed that they do it because the silver fillings look bad and they can sometimes crack and create areas for bacteria to grow. The problem with a standard removal is that the mercury vapors that are inhaled or swallowed lead to heavy metal poisoning and can burden the immune system leading to such detrimental health issues and diseases such as cancer.

Root canals are another problematic subject that if done incorrectly will lead to bacterial infections in small pores inside the dead tooth. Since removing the roots and you are leaving a foreign object that is completely disconnected from the blood flow and immune system leaving any infection to go unnoticed. If left to sit and muster, it will also lead to disease and chronic illness.

It was the next step in healing for me and I decided to visit Dr Sambataro at Healing with Dentistry in Columbia, Maryland. The first appointment was unlike any other dental experience that I've ever had. To be honest it was a little odd even for me, but as you talk with Dr Sambataro and learn about his passion for his work, it all starts to makes sense.

After a couple initial diagnostics appointments we built my plan. Turns out that even after my silver filling removals in the past, I still had one on the back side of one of my upper front teeth. Thats #10 for my readers who are dentally inclined. It was small, but charged up with electrostatic. After some imaging, we also found an abscess under of my lower right molars, or #31. We determined after some additional triage and testing, the only way to heal this abscess and remove any infection was for the tooth to come out.

Having a mercury removal and tooth extraction while trying to stay consistent with the Gerson Therapy was interesting. Dr Sambataro and his staff already used only distilled water (no fluoride), and they understood my limitations of sodium and a heightened sensitivity to local anesthesia. They offer laughing gas and your normal agents, but I decided to steer clear if I could.

How does someone go about having a tooth pulled with only local? I meditated. Seriously! I had just learned my first complete set in Tai Chi at Body Balance with Master Pat Hancock, and so I just sat there and visualized myself moving through set 1 of Yang Style long form. I was lost in my thoughts and found myself in a place where I had actually stopped thinking about my surroundings. Certainly I was brought back from time to time, but I would start from the beginning and try again. As it turns out, the procedure took quite a bit longer than it was originally scheduled -- I was lucid through most of it.

The dental appointment ended with an acupressure session with Wendy. This was a first for me, but it was a great way to relax and I would recommend it be something you experience for yourself. Like acupuncture, it is based on energy and the body's meridians. The main difference is that it mainly involves touch versus needles.

Since the extraction I've been home and taking it easy. I've taken a couple of Tylenol to help manage the acute pain, but generally feel pretty good. The important thing is that now that I've removed what turns out to have been an active infection and the mercury amalgam, the path to healing has now been opened up further. I do still have one tooth that has had a root canal. It will also need to come out in the coming weeks, after I fully recover from the first.

I hope that you take a minute to consider your own dental history. It is just as important to your overall health as the food that you eat to nourish your body. Don't just accept what your doctor, dentist or anyone else will tell you. You should read about it yourself. Knowledge is power!

After a Year on the Gerson Therapy, where are the Results?

2010-08-24T11:52:00.000-04:00

After being on the Gerson Therapy for within two weeks of a full year, the results from a recent PET scan are quite a bit discouraging. I continue to have "hypermetabolic activity" on my liver, spleen and left adrenal gland. The report also indicated activity in the area of my right hip which has not been previously diagnosed. This is the first PET that I've had since receiving a stage IV diagnosis, so there are no facts to indicate progression, over what could be considered stable. I decided not to have the CT portion of the test complete, so we lose the factor of overall tumor changes. My bad.

Since I've not been working with an oncologist, I have only talked with my general doctor about these results. The day I got my scan, I also met with Dr Venna for a *regular* dermatology appointment. Overall it went well, he found nothing new on my exterior and was even willing to discuss further options for treatment. He agreed to review the results from my PET scan and call me this afternoon with his interpretation.

Recent blood work shows that my elevated LDH continues to rise at a slow but steady pace. We have now topped 440 which is nearly double the level of when this all started. LDH is such a subjective marker, and the number itself means nothing. The steady rise of LDH would seem to indicate that the cancer is spreading.

I owe a phone call to Mexico and have Dr Cervantes weight in with his thoughts. I've already sent all my recent results, I hope to speak with him this evening.

This has given me an opportunity to once again come out of my hole and see what the western world has to offer as far a treatment options. Once again, it doesn't look good. The PLX4032 drug which has been leading the headlines as a medical breakthrough, seems to have all been smoke. I've followed several cases where not long after astonishing shrinkage, melanoma soon returned with a vengeance. When it returned, the melanoma has mutated and grew along another pathway rendering all other treatments useless. In every case that I know, the patients have already died.

Ipilimumab is also back in the news as the FDA just accepted it for fast track review. After having what some are considering great success in clinical trials for late stage melanoma, it appears it will get FDA approved as a second line treatment. Similar to IL-2, it is an immunotherapy. Much like IL-2, Ipilimumab can really kick your ass. One possible, known and documented side effect is death. At least it isn't known to cause cancer.

I give full credit to the Gerson Therapy in that it has given me something to focus on and has kept me from the typical clinical trial shuffle that goes along with today's cancer treatments. My biggest fear is being a position where I am forced to take this chemo drug, or that chemo drug or maybe some radiation while I am waiting for something else to open up. If nothing else, Gerson has given me the opportunity to wait for something better to come along.

So to answer the question of where are my results after being on the Gerson Therapy for an entire year. Here I am. I am still alive, well and full of life, and that's got to amount to something.

I present to you, My Family

2010-08-13T13:49:00.001-04:00

I have got a really great family! I had been keeping this to myself, but after some pressure I decided to post it for you to enjoy as well. For Father's Day, Amy's uncle Monte Oberlee, authored and recorded a song for me. Amy and Kaige then conspired together and gathered some family photos to create this video. I hope that you enjoy it.

Dental work, a new chapter in my recovery from Melanoma.

2010-08-04T10:55:00.007-04:00

Some recent tooth sensitivity has moved me onto a new level of healing. In the year to two leading up to my melanoma diagnosis, I had some rather major dental work performed which included the removal of a bunch of my silver fillings as well as a root canal. I don't consider this to be the cause of my cancer, but I certainly do believe that it was a contributing factor to my declining health.

I decided to visit a biological dentist. What separates a biological dentist from your ordinary dentist is that they too believe that the mercury in the silver fillings along with the use of fluoride is toxic to the body. They also believe that root canals and other such dental work actually create pores and channels in the tooth that allow bacteria to grow which impair the immune system and ultimately lead to disease.

I had some imaging done on the pain points in my mouth and sure enough we found what could be an infection at the base of a tooth. An infection would absolutely lead to an immune response which would involve nearby lymph nodes. Bottom line is that I will likely need to have more dental work and some antibiotics. The hope is that by clearing up this infection, the body can focus on other more important areas of healing.

I am also feeling sensitivity in a tooth that has had a root canal. This fact really bothers me. It is the last tooth in the back of my mouth since having my wisdom teeth removed and at the time had a bunch of decay. It was given a root canal and then crowned, providing optimal conditions for bacteria to grow and spread. If I had a better understanding of these things, I would have simply had it removed as well. Of course this was not offered to me at the time as even being an option.

So here I am, in the fight of my life which happens to also be a fight for my life. I've been lied to, cut open, poisoned and billed for it. If I've learned anything at all, it is that in this world, it truly is every man for himself. I hope that you find and take away lessons from my story. It is important to educate yourself and stand up and fight before the system steam rolls over you too.

Where are you Mike?

2010-07-15T10:55:00.002-04:00

A lot has changed for me over the past few months since I last blogged. Not so much in a physical sense, but mentally. What I've come to realize is that this Gerson lifestyle is one in which I will live for quite some time. I'm okay with that because I like how it makes me feel.

It has been only on rare occasions that I fall back and feel the walls of "therapy life" caving in. I focus on living life, I don't think much about cancer anymore. This is the main reason why I haven't blogged.

My friend Steven has got me back riding the motorcycle, and I have really been feeling good about my tai chi practice. You include those with the fact that I have a great family on my side who brighten each and every day, it's no wonder that my mind has been lifted from the fog.

While my LDH has remained slightly elevated, the rest of my blood work is as stable as it has always been. I feel great, and I continue to have full energy.

I plan on taking the Gerson show on the road as Steven and I attempt a guys weekend out in the RV. An earlier attempt with the family, though successful was certainly a learning experience. The hope is that it can be perfected so that my "leash" can be extended.

I'll commit to providing updates, especially as the road opens up on my journey to a full and natural recovery from this "incurable" disease.