Last Week was a Roller Coaster

On Sunday afternoon, Doug whisked me off to Rush Medical Center Emergency Room where I spent the next 4 days with swelling in the lining of the brain.  I had a ocular migraine earlier that morning that went away without event.  I went to visit my parents and all was fine, but when I got home I was very tired and took a nap.  When I woke up, I was out of it.  Blank stare.  Trouble forming words.  Slow movement.  Doug thought I was having a stroke.  He called our oncology nurse, Irene, who said to take me to the ER at Rush.

I have never had such intense pain.  It hurt to blink my eyes, move my neck or any other part of my body.  I hurt from my forehead to my ears to the base of my spine.  I had no sensation in my left arm.  I just tried to lay perfectly still and bring my mind somewhere else.  My emotions were unstable and I wasn't myself.

I resisted an MRI with contrast because I felt panicked when I had one without contrast.  I also refused a epideral puncture to determine if the cause of the brain swelling was infection.  I ultimately had the contrast MRI and based on that and the fact that the steroids they gave me worked so quickly, they determined the cause of the swelling was cancer.

I am now on a high dose of Tarceva (700 mcg) once a week to keep the brain swelling down.  I also am continuing with maintenance chemo once every 3 weeks for the lungs.  I am slowly weaning off the steroids.

I feel back to normal, but it was a scary episode.  I hope to avoid any recurrences and just get on with living a normal life.

My Post on The Plum blog

My second submission to The Plum, an online magazine for the Women Survivors Alliance has been published on their site.  You can view the posting, The One Thing We Can Control,  by clicking on this link.  The gist of it is that no matter what life throws your way, you can choose how to deal with it to make the situation better or worse.

I hope you find it helpful.

Stability

Today I had a CT scan and my first maintenance chemo.  The CT showed no significant change from the prior one, which is considered to be a good result.

Maintenance chemo was basically the same as the treatment chemo, but a half an hour shorter since one of the chemo drugs is now eliminated. I also have fewer oral drugs to take post chemotherapy.

Next chemo session, along with an MRI of the brain, will be Monday, July 21.

Today was the last Treatment

Today I had the fourth chemotherapy treatment which starts the last of the four three-week treatment cycles. 

In three weeks, I will begin the maintenance phase, which still involves chemotherapy, but only one drug instead of two.  Otherwise the maintenance phase is pretty much the same as the treatment phase. I'll still receive an anti-nausea and a steroid drug through the IV prior to the chemo drug being administered.  I'll still have some fatigue, although somewhat less, a few days after the chemo.  I will still be on the once every three week cycle for at least the next nine weeks.  Eventually, it may extend to once every four weeks and then continue in that format as long as the chemo keeps working. 

I will have a CT along with the first maintenance chemo on July 2.  Hopefully, the CT will show even fewer and smaller lesions than the last scan done on May 19th.

The doctor shared some promising research that was all the buzz at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) convention held in Chicago recently.  The third generation of receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (the drug line that uses the same approach to fight the cancer as Tarceva had been doing for me) is showing some really good success in current clinical trials and the trials are now being fast-tracked. The new oral drug may be available to the public as early as six months from now but should be available no later than sometime in 2015.  It has been showing a 50-60% success rate and appears to have gentler side effects than Tarceva.  So maybe that will be something for me once it becomes available.


That's all the news for now. 

Good Results from CT and 3rd Chemo Today

Good news!  The chemo appears to be working well.  Today's CT scan showed several of the lesions had some shrinkage and some of them may even have gone away.  Dr. Bonomi was very pleased with the results.  So we continue with this chemo program for six more weeks before moving into a maintenance chemo mode. 

I had my 3^rd of 4 chemo treatments today and that went very smoothly as well.  Doug took the day off of work to be with me for everything, which was really nice.  We are both relieved and very happy to have this day behind us and to get such positive results.

2nd Chemo Treatment Today

I had my second chemotherapy treatment today and all went smoothly.  My friend Nancy kept me company and the time went by very pleasantly, thanks to her. 


The blood work looked pretty good.  A few things are just slightly above or below normal range, but Irene, my oncology nurse, is "0%" concerned about any of the results, so nothing to worry about.


Irene said my reaction to the chemo should be the same as it was for the first one.  That means I will likely feel some fatigue starting this Wednesday midday and continue to have some midday fatigue Thursday and Friday.  By Saturday, I should feel totally normal.


Next chemo, May 19th, will also include a CAT scan of the lung so we should get a sense at that time for how the cancer is reacting to the chemotherapy treatment.  Hopefully, we will see some reduction in number and/or size of the cancer lesions.


Stay tuned!

A Good Weekend

The last of the chemo fatigue wore off by midday Friday and so I had a very nice weekend with normal energy and activity.  If this is what the other cycles will be like, I can live with it.


I never had any nausea.  The fatigue I felt during the week was pretty mild and typically occurred midday and then went away by evening.  My sleep is also improving.


So a good weekend overall!