Hi all--
Well, not exactly the news I was hoping for, but not horrible either. All the spots except for two stayed the same in size. Two of them grew about a half centimeter. The problem was that the cancerous activity had begun to increase again. So only three weeks after taking off my wig, it looks like I'll be going back to it again. I'll be calling Stanford probably tomorrow about getting back on the clinical trial, and then we'll hopefully get started. This drug was supposed to help me get stronger before the trial, and it did. Now it looks like I gear up for the trial and a new wig--maybe not so red this time :) Thank you so much for your love, prayers & support. I'm thankful for all of you at this wonderful time of Thanksgiving. Please keep up the prayers.

Hello everyone--
It's been a busy school year, and if you've tried to get ahold of me recently, our district email has gone down. My new school email is jkoobatian@pleasantonusd.net so please update your contacts. I've lost all the emails in my contacts for the past 15 years of teaching, so if you want to stay in contact, send me your email address.
I had a PET scan this morning. I'm supposed to get the results tomorrow, so I'm praying for good & hopeful news. It would be nice to have good news before Thanksgiving. I've really been feeling good and strong. I'm so thankful for the fun and productive school year I've had so far. I have awesome students & couldn't be happier. Dad also had hand surgery this morning, and is doing very well. We're thankful that the surgery went without a hitch. I'm looking forward to seeing family this week and resting before the next busy three weeks. I thank you all for all your love & continued prayers of support and wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'll send an update (hopefully tomorrow) when I hear.

Hello everyone--
It's been a crazy week, returning from the fabulous wedding, having the scan Tuesday, my birthday and Back to School Night on Wednesday, so things really have been insane. I can't thank you all enough for all the wonderful birthday wishes and the prayers. The scan results finally came in and the size of the tumors is stable, but again the cancerous activity has decreased throughout, so it's good news! The mouth sores are pretty much gone now, but my feet are still covered in blisters. I see the doc tomorrow and they won't let me start the next round until the blisters are gone, but they are decreasing my chemo dose. I can't thank you enough for all the support you continue to give me. Please do keep it up--you help me so much!

Hello everyone,
Well, I almost completed three rounds of Xeloda/Sandostatin. I had to stop it on Friday, because it had given me mouth sores all over my mouth and blisters all over my feet. I'm still dealing with those. This round should have gone until Sunday. Tomorrow morning at 8:30, I will have my PET scan to find out how my cancer has reacted to this last three rounds. Again, I humbly ask for your thoughts and prayers for good news. I have been feeling great, other than being very tired. I've had a great start to the school year and as usual just love all my students. Thanks again for all your love and support. :)

Well I was hoping and praying for the decision to be clear. Stanford called yesterday to say that since the treatment I am on is working, then technically I'm not eligible for the trial right now. I can start the trial if/when the current treatment stops working. Well, I'd say that was clear. So I am going to continue the Xeloda/Sandostatin starting again on Monday, and wait on the trial. I can't thank you enough for all the posts and emails. You are all so supportive, and I really appreciate it! :)

Hello everyone--
Well, I finally got a call from the oncologist's office today. Good news. This chemo that I have been on is working. Everything has decreased in cancerous activity. The size of the tumors remains the same, but they explained that they don't care about the tissue size if the activity is dying down. The spot on my liver that was noted on my last PET was not detectable in this scan! And there was no new growth! Good news all around! The thing is now I am in a difficult situation. This chemo I have been on has been wonderful. I have been tired, but other than that I haven't had most of the other side effects I usually get with chemo, and my hemoglobin and platelets have remained in tact. So my oncologist feels that if it's working after only two low-dose treatments, why abandon it for the clinical trial? They prefer that I stay on this treatment plan for now. I am going to talk with the docs at Stanford to get another opinion and then make the decision on what I will do from here. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I make this decision.

In the meantime, I was very fortunate to have a wonderful performance opportunity for my students on Wednesday night, as they sang back-up for Foreigner at Wente Vineyards, thanks to a radio contest on KKIQ. Here is the link if you're interested:
http://youtu.be/l2czyrG4J_g

Hello everyone--
I have finished the two rounds of Xeloda and need to get a PET scan tomorrow morning at 9:45, so please keep me in your thoughts & prayers for some good results. I am scheduled to start the clinical trial at Stanford next Thursday, the 19th. I'll let you know how things go.... Thanks again for your support!

Well, last time we talked, I had just gone back to school. it was wonderful to be back in the classroom with my students that I had missed so dearly. We had a great end of the school year, and now 42 of them are high school graduates! I had an echo at the end of May, but my heart function (EF) was still just under 40% at that time, so I could not yet start the Stanford clinical trial. In the meantime, so I would not keep leaving myself untreated, we went ahead and started another chemo drug (Xeloda) that is administered orally, so I take pills twice daily for two weeks and then have a week off. While doing that they also gave me the other non-toxic treatment we had talked about before (Sandostatin). I'm currently in the second week of round two. I had another echo last week and now my EF is up to 50-55%, so now I should be good to go for the clinical trial. I don't know when I will start, as I'm waiting to hear back from Stanford, but I'm pretty sure I will need to finish round two of Xeloda and get a PET scan first. So far during these two rounds my platelets and hemoglobin have held their own. We're watching them very carefully.

My voice is definitely recovering, but still very slowly. I pray that one day soon I will be singing again.

Now that we're on summer break I will try to get plenty of rest while preparing for next school year. I have very few summer plans, since I don't know what to expect with Stanford, but I'm looking forward to having my dear friend Ani come out from Niagara Falls to visit next week, while celebrating Amanda's 11th birthday! The rest of the break we will just play by ear....

Thank you so much for your prayers and support--they mean the world to me.

Hi Everyone--
It was great to go back to school today! Nothing could make me happier than to be with my students doing what I love to do. I feel much better. I am working on getting my heart stronger with the meds they have given me and trying to take it easy. My next echo is scheduled for the 26th, and I'll see the cardiologist to get the results on May 1st. Then we'll see if I'm at 50% and if I'm eligible to start the clinical trial at Stanford. Until then, we are going to redo that other scan to see if I can now be treated with that non-toxic treatment that we tried a while back. That scan is tomorrow and Wed.
The good news is that there was no permanent damage to my voice, but there is still swelling from the intubation tubes and I have to wait for it to heal. The tubes did move one of my vocal cords over a bit, but the doc feels once the swelling goes down it will all work out with no futher surgery. For now I just sound really weird. Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts & prayers. They really help!

Well, so much has happened since the last time I blogged. Here’s the whole story. On March 3^rd, I was so sick I couldn’t breathe, so we rushed to the ER. I was basically hysterical & nothing they were doing was helping me, so I asked them to give me Ativan to help me calm down and they did. Later they found there was some kind of blockage, and they put some balloon thing in and opened it up. They put me on a ventilator for almost a full four days. Miserable! All I have to say is: DON’T DO DRUGS! Those drugs were nasty. They were telling Richard I had a 50/50 chance of making it, but each day I got a little better & they eventually took me off the tubes. Since I woke up, I’ve had vision problems, which made it difficult to email or text any of you. I’m still at the point now where I need readers some of the time.

The worst part for me is my voice was messed up too, and now I fear that the tubes have reinjured my vocal cord that the doc at Stanford had repaired, because I am back to a whisper, like before my voice surgery. I am losing air like before, so it’s hard to talk when you have to breathe every three words. I’m going back to that doc on Thursday, and I am devastated about this. This is why I haven’t called many of you back because talking exhausts me.

Apparently, I had a viral infection that caused fluid in my lungs and around my heart. They were able to get it under control in the hospital and I came home on the 13^th. Since then, I’ve been home recovering. As for Stanford, they will not let me begin the clinical trial until my heart function comes back up to at least 50%. It was almost non-existent when I got to the hospital. It was around 30% when I left, and now I’m almost at 40%. The doc wants me home to rest my heart for at least two more weeks. I’m trying to get back right after spring break (at least that’s my personal goal). In the meantime, the docs at Stanford and my oncologist are talking together about other possible treatments we can do (including that other scan I did a while back) until I’m ready for the trial. My students are leaving on our New York tour without me tomorrow morning. I miss them so much.

Well, I think that’s everything. Thank you to so many of you for all your support with prayers, calls & visits. They mean so much.

Hello everyone--
Just another quick update. It seems I am going to be a part of the clinical trial at Stanford starting in less than two weeks on March 1st. It is specifically for my type of Thymic cancer (which be the first drug I've been on that is for my type in this 6 1/2 year ordeal). They are having great success and in the phase they are in, I am guaranteed NOT to get a placebo, so it sounds promising. I just wanted you to know that after the bad news Wednesday, this was hopeful. Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers that this will do the trick! Thanks, everyone!

Hello everyone,
Well it's always nice to get the news just as your classes are walking in the door, and especially when it's not the greatest news. Basically the cancer has started growing again. Everything is up in size and cancerous activity, as I had suspected. The good news is it's not huge growth and it hasn't spread anywhere new. It was an interesting day teaching all day with that news rolling around in my head. My doc & I had decided a while back that the next time there was growth, we would try the other type of scan again, in hopes that it might be another avenue for us, so I'm waiting to hear about that. The last time I did that scan, we timed it wrong so he wanted to try it again. In the meantime, my wonderful nurse practitioner found a clinical trial at Stanford for my type of Thymic cancer (which is amazing, because of how rare it is). I also called City of Hope to ask about my possibility of being eligible for one there, so I'm waiting to hear back on all of that too. I just thought I'd give you an update first. Please keep me in your thoughts & prayers.

Hello everyone--
Just a quick update. I've been feeling very weak. My numbers (blood levels) have been OK, but I've been extremely weak and short of breath. I had a chest x-ray yesterday and the pulmonologist says everything (fluid-wise) in my lungs has remained the same. I have been at home all week. I have a PET/CT scan scheduled for Monday at 11:30 am, so please keep me in your thoughts & prayers for good news. I am stronger than I was a week ago, but am still very weak. I miss being at school and am working very hard to get back next week. I will keep you updated. Thank you so much!