Today's fever was another good one. She stayed above 102.2F for a good 2 hours.
The fever curve was quite similar to fever #2. The maximum temperature was 103.6F (39.8C). However, you'll notice that it took a little longer to reach its peak. However, once reached, it seemed to stay up there a little longer than recent fevers.
During my Coley's treatments, I eat breakfast around 8:30am, skip lunch, then I eat dinner after the fever subsides. Today I decided to eat some fruit during the fever, as I was getting quite hungry. I had a plum, then a banana. That wasn't quite enough for me, so after the fever came down, I went down to the cafeteria and asked for a snack. I had two pieces of cake (healthy cake with nuts and fruit) and a cup of apple juice.
I've programmed a chart that's hopefully easier for folks to see how the Coley's Toxins fevers progress over time. I did it mainly for ourselves to be able to visualize how a given fever compares with the prior one - and also how it compares with the "best" fever thus far. The best one she's had is fever #2. It was long and protracted, and she stayed well above 102.5F for a good 2.5 hours.
Today, we decided to be a little daring and upped the dosage from 0.006ml -> 0.009ml (a factor of 50%). We decided to do this based on her response from fever #11 where we increased from 0.004->0.006ml. That 50% increase resulted in a clearly better fever, but still not quite high enough.
Throughout history, physicians have observed and documented the clear links between infection and regression of cancer. In a significant number of cases, the regression is not just temporary but lasts for decades (essentially what we call a "cure"). Dr. William Coley was certainly not the first to have encountered this seemingly miraculous effect. He was certainly bitten by the "coley bug" when he personally tracked down Mr. Zola and verified that the impossible had occurred.
This dramatic, and seemingly miraculous effect, is real.
Today, we increased the dosage from 0.004ml -> 0.006ml. We did this because it was becoming apparent that her body is developing tolerance to Coley's Toxins. We felt that increasing to 0.005 wouldn't do too much based on previous fever curves.
Today's dosage was again an increase to 0.004ml. This was because last Friday's fever wasn't very high and maxed out at 102.4F for a short duration.
Today's was even lower. It maxed out at 101.9F and for not very long either. I would estimate that the average fever was about 101F. It wasn't very difficult to tolerate and recovery as the fever subsided was very quick.
This week I had two increases in dosage - to 0.002mL and 0.003mL. Neither dosages gave me sustained fever above 102.5F. Most likely I'm developing some tolerance, so there will be more dose escalation next week.
Today we increased dosage again to 0.003ml. The fever was uneventful and predictable. It was somewhat better than the last one. However, it wasn't as high as we'd hoped for. The peak was a tad below the desired 102.5F threshold. So we'll need to increase again next Monday.
After some deliberation, we decided not to increase the dose level. Instead, we wanted to see if a higher fever could be obtained by increasing external heat instead. After all, we felt that the previous fever (#7) was quite a good one, despite the sub-optimal temperature. It's duration was long and she was quite fatigued after that fever.
During my Coley's treatments, I eat breakfast around 8:30am, skip lunch, then I eat dinner after the fever subsides. Today I decided to eat some fruit during the fever, as I was getting quite hungry. I had a plum, then a banana. That wasn't quite enough for me, so after the fever came down, I went down to the cafeteria and asked for a snack. I had two pieces of cake (healthy cake with nuts and fruit) and a cup of apple juice.
Today, we decided to be a little daring and upped the dosage from 0.006ml -> 0.009ml (a factor of 50%). We decided to do this based on her response from fever #11 where we increased from 0.004->0.006ml. That 50% increase resulted in a clearly better fever, but still not quite high enough.
This week I had two increases in dosage - to 0.002mL and 0.003mL. Neither dosages gave me sustained fever above 102.5F. Most likely I'm developing some tolerance, so there will be more dose escalation next week.
After some deliberation, we decided not to increase the dose level. Instead, we wanted to see if a higher fever could be obtained by increasing external heat instead. After all, we felt that the previous fever (#7) was quite a good one, despite the sub-optimal temperature. It's duration was long and she was quite fatigued after that fever.
