Change

Life is funny. One day you are down; next day you are up. Cancer is the same. One day your blood count is down; then the next day with no warning, they are up. Recently this has happened to me again. About two weeks ago, a normal blood test (normal for me) showed an increase in tumor markers. So off to the scan department - MRIs, CTs, and a PET scan. PET scan showed slight progression in one stupid tumor. My brother and I met with the doc and we decided it was time for a chemo change. I had a 6 month run with the past chemo so that was pretty good. I was a little ticked off. I was comfortable with this treatment and could calculate how I would feel. But what other choice did I have? I did my first new chemo (Ixempra) this past Thursday. Mom and I were there in the infusion room from 10:15 - 3. You can imagine how irritating a day that was. But so far so good. I woke Friday morning with a high fever - 102.3, sore throat, and chills. But I am not positive if this was the chemo or if it was the flu. I had a touch of the flu at the beginning of the week. I am starting to feel okay today. The biggest thing we need to look out for in this treatment is extreme fatigue and my blood counts. I will be getting them checked every other week. Low counts can make you really sick and tired. Other than that, the treatment is once every three weeks instead of weekly. So hopefully, I will just be sick for a couple of days. We shall see. One other exciting news is that there is a new bone drug, denosumab, that just got approved by the FDA on Nov. 19th. It is designed to help strengthen my bones. I will be the first patient at Rex Cancer Center to have this drug. They just ordered it so I should be getting a call any day. It will be administered as a shot. I thank god everyday that I live in this area and able to receive the newest in medical care.

Other than this "slight" progression, we are all doing okay. Working, celebrating the holidays, and living my life as normal as everyone else. Please say a little prayer that this newest treatment isn't too harsh and that it will work to keep this disease contained. Thank you! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season with your families!