Happy Thanksgiving!

A Very Brooklyn Thanksgiving, complete with hats courtesy of Kanik and Ling-Fong.

Kanik Does It Again

So, some GOOD updates on the K-man today: 

1) Kanik's endoscopy went really well yesterday.  He only had a small portion of his esophagus that needed banding and will not need to receive another endoscopy for three months.  

2) Kanik worked REALLY hard to get his protein levels up, so he could participate in this third medical trial and found out today that Five Guys burgers really did the trick.  Kanik will be able to take part in this trial, which begins tomorrow.  Similar to the last trial, the drug that will be administered to Kanik will not be chemotherapy but, rather, a drug called GC33, which is "an antibody that targets a protein called GPC3 and triggers an immune response against GPC3-expressing cancer cells."  (For more information about the study, please go to this link:  http://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/trial/12-145).

Kanik will get injections for this trial for the next three Tuesdays and then will receive injections every other week.  The trial will last for 12 weeks, but Kanik may be able to continue receiving the injections after that point (we'll keep you posted on that).

3) Kanik also found out he gained three pounds this week, after his weight had been holding steady.  (Again, thanks to Five Guys.)

Thank you for supporting Kanik this week, when he really needed it.  He's about to start a new phase of his treatment and will, obviously, need this continued support (in the forms of phone calls, emails, texts and perhaps the occasional drop-by visits).  More updates as this trial gets underway. 

The Latest News

A few delayed updates on Kanik this week:

First, Kanik successfully rode out Hurricane Sandy with some friends last week.  His apartment and, unbelievably, his showroom in DUMBO came out totally unscathed, which was great news. 

Second, Kanik's regularly scheduled weekly shot had to be delayed, due to Sandy, so it was rescheduled for last Friday.  Since Kanik had also been experiencing some abdominal pain, Dr. Abou Alfa held off on giving Kanik the shot and wanted him to get a CT scan this past Tuesday.  The CT scan showed that there has been growth in the large tumors in his liver and those in his lungs.  However, there is a third clinical trial that Kanik may be able to join.  After some testing this week, Dr. Abou Alfa said that, at this point, Kanik's protein levels are too low to be part of this trial BUT he is working hard to raise those levels quickly.  (This effort includes consuming multiple Five Guys burgers each day, which isn't all that bad.) 

Kanik is scheduled to receive another endoscopy on his esophagus Monday and his protein levels will be tested again on Tuesday.  Ling-Fong was in New York, with Kanik, last week and will be traveling back here on Sunday to accompany Kanik to the endoscopy appointment next week.

We'll be sure to post updates next week, as we get more information but, for now, please keep Kanik in your thoughts and, if you're in the neighborhood, feel free to swing by and treat him to Five Guys.  Kanik, with the help of his family and friends, has taken such great care of himself over the past eight months and maintained his good health, so that only makes the chances of him getting into this third trial that much better. 

   Bit of a gut punch, but still going strong.