Since March, I've been on "borrowed" time using a drug that is not really supposed to work by itself this long into treatment. In May, everything was basically stable; so, we decided to ride it out as long as possible with checking tumor markers every month until doing a PETscan this past Monday. I got the results of that PETscan today, and unfortunately, it is time to make a change.
The lymph nodes were bigger & shining brighter. The liver lesion we'd been watching was shining less bright, but it appears another lesion has appeared. There were also 2 spots that light up that we aren't sure whether they are cancer or not. One of them is at vertebra T10, and my oncologist thinks may just be regular bone marrow activity. The other is in an area of soft tissue near the end of my ribs which could also be inflammation. Both were listed as possible for metastasis, but my oncologist isn't sure. We aren't going to do any more testing for those places at this time, though, because the treatment would be the same either way.
I will be starting an oral chemo called Xeloda. This comes in pill form, and I will take 2 pills with breakfast and 2 with dinner for one week on then one week off as long as the medicine is working, which we hope will be years. This dosing has been found to help keep people from getting side effects and/or help keep them in better control. The side effects for this drug are primarily stomach issues, hand/foot syndrome (where chemo leaks into capillaries and kills tissue causing redness, pain, and peeling), and low white blood count/ higher risk of infection. Starting with this dosing will also provide the ability to go a little higher or lower depending on side effects and cancer response.
My oncologist understands how important being as free as possible to work, travel, live a normal life, etc. is to me, and this option, will be the easiest for that. It is never fun to know there is progression and have to change medicines, but thankfully, I've had a few months to know that this was the next option and prepare for it. I hate that I will be starting it the first week of classes since I don't know what side effects I will or won't get, but that could be a blessing in disguise as well since those first meetings are usually about the syllabi, etc. and not necessarily a lot of "meat" of the class.
Today was also my regular bone building infusion, Zometa, along with needing an iron infusion. The iron one was easy, but the Zometa comes with some fun side effects of flu-like symptoms and bone pain. So, this may be a weekend for me to just hunker down and catch up on netflix or reading until the side effects go away. I think I've said this before, but the weirdest side effect is the bone pain. It feels like something is trying to burrow its way out from the inside of my bones. Needless to say, tylenol & ibuprofen are my close friends this weekend, lol.
Sorry if this is a bit of a debbie-downer blog post this time. Hopefully it doesn't come across too negative or anything, but this is my reality. My oncologist did tell me that she had a patient who had been on this chemo for 6 1/2 years, and I know of a couple of women on a breast cancer board that I belong to that have been on this chemo for 5+ years. So, you never know which treatment might be the magic bullet for you, and I hope this will work as well as possible with as few side effects as possible for as long as possible. Also, I'm so thankful that I was able to do my crazy summer of travel. It feels like such a blessing to have felt that good and been able to enjoy that before having to make this shift in meds.
I'd really appreciate any prayers for this treatment to work and have minimal side effects. Thanks so much, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
