Maria Klump ended her clinical trial with the experimental drug that she had been taking in the first week of October. The side effects were too much for her to continue on with the drug. Those side effects remained well after she discontinued using the drug. Her oncologist, Dr. Vij, told her that she needed a break from everything in the short term. Her monthly visit in November, to have her blood checked, showed a slight increase in her lambda light chaines(LLC). Maria's next visit, on December 3rd, showed a surprising slight decrease, although, less than a point, of her lambda light chaines(LLC), for no apparent reason. That is certainly good news for a change. A few weeks ago, Maria was put on a special prayer list by Glen Hogan, a business associate of her husband, Jeff. There have been a few people, who have cancer, that have been on this prayer list, and have had remarkable changes in their condition. Maria is not required to do anything at this time. Her next check on her blood work will be the first week of January. We will keep you posted. We thank all of you that have been praying for her and her family. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This begins the 4th week Maria Klump has been on the experimental drug for her multiple myeloma cancer and I have never seen her in so much pain. She is constantly complaining about her stomach and nausea associated with the drug. She is unable to eat barely anything. I do not not know how long she will be able to stay on the drug. The next meeting with her oncologist is on Tuesday October 15th and we should know by then if a long break from the drug would be advisable. The drug has pushed her Lambda Light Chains(LLC) numbers way down, so maybe a long break would be in order. Again, since this an experimental drug, the long term side effects are not known, but the short term side effects are horrific, to say the least. Please keep Maria and her family, especially, her mother Gina, who has to watch her daughter suffer so much, in your prayers. The next update will be after October 15th. Thank You!

Maria's Journey: BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!! YeeeeHaaa!!!!!We have just...

Maria's Journey: BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!! YeeeeHaaa!!!!!We have just...: BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!! YeeeeHaaa!!!!! We have just received notice that the experimental drug that Maria Klump has been taking over the ...

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!! YeeeeHaaa!!!!! We have just received notice that the experimental drug that Maria Klump has been taking over the past 3 weeks, is working. The drug, Oprozomib, is pushing her Lambda Light Chains(LLC) down. If you recall from our last post, her Lambda Light Chains(LLC), have been rising for several months. The Lambda Light Chains(LLC) serve as a marker for her oncologist, which tells him if her disease is progressing or regressing in her body. The side effects of the drug, however, have increased. Along with the chronic nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, there is also severe acid reflux being felt by Maria. She is on the drug every other week, so she does get a break from taking the drug. Still, this is great news! Thanks be to God who has made all of this possible! Further updates to come.

New Update- September 2013

We have a new update on Maria Klump's conditon in her fight against multiple myeloma cancer. Several months ago, her readings for her lambda light chains(LLC), which is a marker for her oncologist to determine at what stage the multiple myeloma is in her body, have been steadily increasing each month, which means she is currently relapsing from her plasma stem cell transplant that she received in December 2011. She is currently involved in a clinical study at The Siteman Cancer Center/Barnes- Washington University with her oncologist, Dr. Ravi Vij. She is taking an experimental drug called Oprozomib from Onyx Therapeutics, Inc. This is an experimental drug that has been tested on approximately 79 patients thus far. Oprozomib works by preventing the breakdown of protein in cells, causing the cells to die. Cancer cells are more susceptible to these effects than normal cells. Since this is an experimental drug, the long term side effects are not known. Please pray for Maria and her family during this difficult time. There will be more updates to come.

Current status

Sorry all for not posting in so long but things have been crazy in my house. As far as Maria is doing, I would say pretty good. Her hair is coming in nicely and she no longer needs her scarves. We had the family and Gina out to my house for Easter and she looks fantastic! God is so good! She has her rough times and tires more easily. The plan is to continue a lower dose of her chemo drug Revlbmid (sp?) for at least two years to keep the symptoms of the disease at bay. Studies have shown that taking it in this dose has shown to extend the life by 5 years. The insurance again rejected payment but a special fund has approved it so we are so very grateful. She will continue to see her oncologist every 4-6 weeks and will not have any further testing other than blood work unless she becomes symptomatic or if the blood counts change. We have a busy weekend ahead with the out of towners coming in for my daughter's communion and then in two weeks, we will all meet again in Kansas City for Mary's daughter's communion. This will be a busy time for Maria especially with her oldest daughter graduating from St. Monica and then attending Kennedy high school in the fall. We are so grateful for all of the health and well-being of our family and ask that you remember Maria in your prayers because she feels the strength and love that so many strangers have given her! Take care and may God bless all of those suffering with cancer!

Results

This morning Jeff, Maria and I went to see the oncologist, Dr. Vij at Barnes. We got her test results that were done last friday at 100 days post transplant. Definately lots of good news. The three areas they use to diagnose Mulitple myeloma are blood, bone marrow and PET scan images. There was no evidence of disease in both the blood and bone marrow since the chemo and transplant. Also the tumor on her spinal cord is gone so that is wonderful news due to the pain it was causing. The disease is still showing up on her PET scan, although it is less than the one prior to transplant. So she is not considered to be in full remission because it was still detectable but the transplant was a success since it is no longer in the bone marrow. The bummer news is that now it is standard treatment to continue on the chemo drug revlimid at a small dose orally for 2 years which has been shown to add on 5 years to the life expectancy. Unfortunately, their insurance denied payment for it before the transplant and they had to apply for a grant through an organization. So there is a high chance that it will be denied again. Out of pocket costs would be $6000 a month. We are just taking one step at a time and praying that the insurance company will look at the research and give her the best chance to be around for as long as possible. There is no guarantee that the medicine would keep the disease at bay so if they are not able to afford it we will just have to trust in God's plan. Maria is looking fantastic, her hair is growing in and we are celebrating the successes of today and not stressing about the future! God bless all for thoughts and prayers!
Carolyn