Lungs Seem to be Working Well

Last Sunday, Doug and I biked on Lake Shore Drive for 30 miles with some of our friends as part of Chicago's annual Bike the Drive event.  I am pleased to say that I wasn't the least bit winded and even my knees, which are usually troublesome on long-distance rides, gave me no trouble at all.  Although it was foggy and cool the whole ride, it still felt great to be on the bike in one of my favorite venues.

On the Thursday following the bike ride, I had a check up with Drs. Bonomi and Kiel which was pretty much just me telling them how I am feeling and if I've had any reactions to the lung radiation.  I have an itchy rash that got scabby pretty quickly on my back and they determined it is probably from the radiation since its location seems to match up pretty closely to where the lung tumor is.  They gave me some topical steroids that should help with the rash.

When I told them I'd ridden my bike 30 miles for BTD, they were very pleased and felt pretty confident that the lung was  recovering quite well from the radiation treatments.  :)

I will have bloodwork and another check up with Dr. B in a month and then MRI and CAT scan in early August to see how the lung looks and make sure those tumors are staying away!

Don't forget to sign up for the lung run - we have 9 team members already.  Several members are not up  for a 5k, so the 1 mile walk will also have some Team DL members.  Hopefully, that might persuade a few more people to sign up!

Still on Anti-Seizure Meds

I had an appointment with my neurologist, Dr. Angelopoulos on May 10 and she wanted me to have another EEG to see how the brain is doing.  I was hoping everything would be normal on the EEG so I could further cut back on the anti-seizure medication.  Alas, the EEG results came through this week and there is still abnormal slowness in the brain waves of the right temporal lobe (I think that's where she said it was) so I remain on the Keppra twice a day.  It's not a big deal, but Dr. A feels it is best to be conservative and make sure there that I don't have any seizures in the future, especially while driving.  She said it is still possible that I will one day have a normal EEG and may be able to someday get off the medications, but it also is not a sure thing.  Another "wait and see" deal - lots of those with this whole process.  The good news is that she says as long as I stay on the medication, I can ride roller-coasters! :)

Thursday, June 2 I will meet with both oncologists - Dr. Bonomi and Dr. Kiel for a follow up from the lung radiation.  I don't expect there will be anything new coming from that meeting since we haven't done any scans since I completed the radiation.  If there is anything to report, I'll post it on this blog.

September 17, 2011 - Team DL returns to the Lung Run at Montrose Harbor

Team DL has officially returned for year 2 of the Chicago Lung Run.  Click here to see my personal page and to access the Team DL page to join us.  If we get enough local team members, we might even have some group training runs/walks in the local area, since we have 4 months to get ready.  I will post dates and locations for any training runs that might get set up on this blog.

The Chicago Lung Run raises awareness and much-needed funds for lung cancer research. Your support will help fund important research for the leading cancer killer of men and women.

Approximately 19 people die from lung cancer every hour -- that's over 160,000 people per year, more than 25,000 of whom have never smoked (like me), and these cases are on the rise.

Proceeds from the event will benefit innovative lung cancer research projects through the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago and Uniting Against Lung Cancer, organizations that are funding real research, not just publicity, to find new treatments and end lung cancer.

Your participation would mean a lot to me.  Thanks!

Lung is Done and All is Well

I survived all four of my focused lung radiation treatments and I am done for the foreseeable future with cancer treatments.

All that is left is check ups and scans to make sure no new growth appears and maintenance usage of my Tarceva pill every other day.

So now Doug and I will try to fully absorb this good news and find our way toward a "new normal" life!

Thanks again for all the support everyone who is reading this has given to us throughout this difficult time.  I will continue to blog the results of check-ups but hope that there won't be much big news going forward.

The 2011 Lung Run in Chicago is now taking registrations and I am hoping that a battalion of my army of supporters would join me in planning to RUN, not walk, in this year's Sept. 17 event.  (I think the fact that I never stopped running throughout my ordeal made a real difference and would like to give others that same bulwark for their own health.) In a separate email, I will post a link to a team page and will gladly put together team training runs to get us ready to run a 5K (3 miles) for a great cause - funding research to find a cure for lung cancer.  This will be a fun event in a beautiful environment (Montrose Harbor on Chicago's lakefront) that will help your own health and those of others who really need that help.  Let's keep riding this wave of good will and good outcomes as far as we can!

Focused Radiation: 1 down, 3 to go

I had the first lung radiation treatment yesterday afternoon.  With the help of some calming essential oils, aspirin, anti-anxiety meds and relaxing music, I made it through okay.  It is still really uncomfortable, especially for my arms, but easier to manage with the aids I mentioned. 

Thanks to several friends and colleagues for suggestions on what to do and how to prepare for this treatment.  I've taken all suggestions to heart and am using a lot of them!

I am looking forward to Monday evening, when this is all over with.  Hopefully, that will be the end of any radiation treatments of any kind.

Preparations for Focused Radiation to the Lung

Yesterday, I had the planning session for the focused radiation to the left lung.  It was not a fun process.  They have me laying down on my back with my arms over my head for over half an hour while there is a structure pressing on my diaphragm so I can’t breathe deeply.  My arms just ached and my stomach still feels a bit queasy from the pressure on the diaphragm. 

As an added bonus, I am now a tattooed lady!  I have 2 dots over and 1 under my left breast and 1 under each armpit.  Lucky me – something I will always have with me to remember my cancer!  They use these dots to line me up with the lasers exactly the same way for each treatment.

The treatments will be Wed-Fri, May 4-6 and Monday, May 9.  It will be good to have this over with!  The good news is that they can't even see the lung tumor clearly - just some faint broken up scar tissue.  They will be overlaying my original PET and CAT scans from the time of diagnosis with the current scans to confirm the proper target area.  You may be asking, as I did, why I should even go through this uncomfortable treatment if they can't even clearly see the lung tumor anymore.  The answer I was given is that Tarceva alone is not known to "cure" cancer and if that is the only treatment that the lung mass is subject to, it will likely come back.  The focused radiation, on the other hand, has a 90% "control rate," which means that by zapping the problem area no other cancers are likely to reappear in that area in the future.

The Victory Run - Last Sunday's 8K Shamrock Shuffle

Last Sunday, April 10 was the annual Shamrock Shuffle 8 kilometer (4.97 miles) run through the heart of Chicago's downtown.  Doug and I run this race almost every year and we had signed up to do it again this year several weeks ago. 

When we got our happy news that my cancer had subsided on the Thursday before this race, the Shuffle took on a whole new dimenstion - this was to be a celebration of triumph, health and happiness.  A Victory Run.

It was much warmer than usual - I think it reached 80 degrees during the run - and I was overdressed so I  tired out more than I normally would, and even had to walk a bit on the last uphill leg of the race.  But I didn't want to take my jacket off because it not only had my race number, but the sign you see in the picture was pinned on my jacket just above my butt. 

For the first time in any race, Doug ran by my side the whole time.  We didn't care about how fast we were, so he skipped his special start corral for the faster runners.  We just drank in the beautiful day in the beautiful city.  Several runners congratulated me as they saw my little sign.  When we crossed the finish line of our Victory Run, Doug and I were all smiles as we held hands and raised them up in triumph.  Here is a link to view some pictures from our run: 

http://www.marathonfoto.com/index.cfm?RaceOID=12852011W1&LastName=PAWLOWSKI&BibNumber=6901