Donna Lura’s Crafting Adventures

08/28/2026

Project I have been working on since January is finally finished. I used Digital Deco Designs prints.

08/28/2026

04/28/2026

This is why I have not been crafting lately, Stage 4 metastatic melanoma.

IV is in and I am getting hydration first then anti nausea med before my Keytruda. This is the second time I have been placed in recliner and not a bed. I really could have used the bed because I have been sick today.

01/12/2026

Leaving this morning for MD Anderson. I have an appointment this afternoon on a Sunday.

Sunday the 11th: MRI on brain at 4:30 pm.

Monday the 12th: CT Scan at 6:30 am
Nuclear injection at 9:00 am
Whole body scan at 11:00 am
Bloodwork at 12:15 pm
Cancer doctors at 1:00
EKG at 4:00 pm
Infusion at 4:45 pm

It is going to be a busy Monday. All the scans will determine whether or not I continue in the trial. They need to show stable or decreasing tumors.

12/22/2025

I made this bottle for my U.K. friend, Nikki, from Nikki's Nosh. Love watching her videos.

Nikki’s Nosh YouTube Nikki reviews restaurants and other things.

NikkAi Now YouTube This is Nikki’s new channel

09/04/2025

I finished my bottle project. I used Form Flex for the molds, Pentart’s Deluxe paste in gold, Pentart’s white gold wax paste and prints are from Orchid Lime Design. Added some bling and a group of ribbons. It also has a light in the cork top.

07/10/2025

I finally finished a new project. Decorated a box using Digital Deco Designs Beach Walk print. Kept it fairly simple. I highlighted her dress with a little clear glitter and added a tiny bit of bling around her hat and wrist.

Digital Deco Designs

04/10/2025

This is not craft related but it is why I have not been crafting and posting a lot.

After failing to respond to ipi/nivo, I was able to get in Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’, clinical trial phase one (REGN10597: Anti PD-1-IL2RA-IL2 Fusion Protein). My first dose was on February 25, 2025 with the other doses scheduled every two weeks. It means we travel to MD Anderson from where we live which is about a five hour drive.

I have had a total of three doses with the following results.

My bloodwork on April 9th showed my AST and ALT liver stats as normal which means we continue with the trial. My 4th infusion went well although I was there from 11:30 am to 7:00 pm.

My CT scan on April 8th had mostly great news with a little not so good. Most of my lesions (tumors) stayed stable with a few decreasing in size. I had three that increased slightly. The big one in my liver decided to get a little bigger as did the one in my spleen. One more increased in size. Dr. Amaria was happy with the results so we are continuing on with the study drug.

I will have a follow up CT scan on May 21st. That scan needs to show a decrease in size of the ones which increased this time and that they are either staying stable or getting a little smaller.

I want to thank everyone for their prayers and good thoughts.