Sunday, July 12, 2015
Here we go again....
My cancer markers have slowly increased over the last few months, and because the most recent test showed a more concerning "jump", I had a CT last Monday. Unfortunately, it showed that at least two of my existing liver tumors have grown, which means it's time for a new treatment. There are many obvious reasons that I'm sad and frustrated, but one is that I've been tolerating my current treatment well, and the new one will have more side effects.
To start with the positive, it was good news that the cancer hasn't spread somewhere new. I've been having asthma symptoms for a few weeks and it was in the back of my mind that I might have a tumor in my lung.
Another positive will be that the new schedule will be two weeks on, one week off, which is slightly better than my old schedule of three weeks on, one week off.
Eribulin is given through an I.V., and I'll also receive pre-meds to combat nausea, which I didn't need with my last treatment. So, my time at the clinic will be longer. Put that in the negative column (the longer time to administer and the potential nausea). I'm going to start this treatment on the 17th, which means I'll have had an almost two week break to give my blood counts time to recover.
Unfortunately, I will likely lose my hair. Having been through this before, I know it's not going to be easy. And I'm worried about Olivia, who struggled with this last time and talks about my hair loss to this day. Other frequent side effects include numbness in the hands/feet, loss of taste and more fatigue than with my current drug.
Eribulin is made from sea sponges, which is interesting. Maybe someday a joke about Sponge Bob will be funny, but not today.
I'm going to take it one day at a time and I know I'll adjust, but right now I'm experiencing sadness and fear of the unknown (including whether this drug will work). And by the way, James was in Miami when I got the news. I'm officially feeling sorry for myself.
I will try to update with more details on the new treatment as I learn more. Hopefully, I'll also be reporting that the side effects are mild and I'm getting used to my new routine. Not that I have choice!
My cancer markers have slowly increased over the last few months, and because the most recent test showed a more concerning "jump", I had a CT last Monday. Unfortunately, it showed that at least two of my existing liver tumors have grown, which means it's time for a new treatment. There are many obvious reasons that I'm sad and frustrated, but one is that I've been tolerating my current treatment well, and the new one will have more side effects.
To start with the positive, it was good news that the cancer hasn't spread somewhere new. I've been having asthma symptoms for a few weeks and it was in the back of my mind that I might have a tumor in my lung.
Another positive will be that the new schedule will be two weeks on, one week off, which is slightly better than my old schedule of three weeks on, one week off.
Eribulin is given through an I.V., and I'll also receive pre-meds to combat nausea, which I didn't need with my last treatment. So, my time at the clinic will be longer. Put that in the negative column (the longer time to administer and the potential nausea). I'm going to start this treatment on the 17th, which means I'll have had an almost two week break to give my blood counts time to recover.
Unfortunately, I will likely lose my hair. Having been through this before, I know it's not going to be easy. And I'm worried about Olivia, who struggled with this last time and talks about my hair loss to this day. Other frequent side effects include numbness in the hands/feet, loss of taste and more fatigue than with my current drug.
Eribulin is made from sea sponges, which is interesting. Maybe someday a joke about Sponge Bob will be funny, but not today.
I'm going to take it one day at a time and I know I'll adjust, but right now I'm experiencing sadness and fear of the unknown (including whether this drug will work). And by the way, James was in Miami when I got the news. I'm officially feeling sorry for myself.
I will try to update with more details on the new treatment as I learn more. Hopefully, I'll also be reporting that the side effects are mild and I'm getting used to my new routine. Not that I have choice!
