Preparing for the Next Big Milestone

Welcome back to the next Thriving Not Just Surviving blog post. I took a 6-week break from posting, primarily due to no major news following the amazing CT scan at the beginning of June. However, I am now ready and refreshed to start posting regularly again (probably every three weeks).

I received round 6 of treatment last Thursday, July 13. I continue to feel good and exhibit signs of further progress in my fight. The enlarged lymph node on my neck that was visibly smaller at the beginning of June is now completely gone. I can no longer feel it and my doctor was unable to locate it at the last appointment. This is a positive sign that further shrinkage is occurring since the CT scan. Furthermore, twinges of pain that I’ve experienced since the diagnosis when I move in a specific way have significantly decreased, or in some cases, stopped completely.

My doctor’s confidence in my long-term future has also improved. During round 5 of treatment at the end of June he stated that I am “off the bell-curve” in terms of stage 4 lung cancer survivorship percentages. The bell curve that he is referring to is the bleak outlook that many stage 4 lung cancer patients (including me) are faced with at initial diagnosis. I won’t get into specific percentages, but most patients do not live more than 1-2 years and almost no one makes it past 5 years. Its impossible to know how much my long-term outlook differs from this bell curve, but as long as I continue to respond to treatment there is no limit to my long-term future. It’s rare, but patients have beaten stage 4 lung cancer. It’s encouraging to know that my progress continues to make this a feasible outcome.

Another piece of encouraging news is my future treatment plan. Currently, my doctor believes that I won’t be needing to undergo traditional chemotherapy. If Keytruda stops working for me, the fallback plan is to add additional immunotherapy drugs to combat the changing molecular structure of the cancer. According to my doctor, they have over 40 other immunotherapy drugs that can be combined with Keytruda that can be effective against my cancer if it evolves into something that circumvents treatment. The long-term plan is to continue to take Keytruda and any other immunotherapy for 2 years. It is believed that this is the amount of time it will take to fully train the immune system to recognize and fight the cancer.  Following the two-year window is the great unknown. It’s impossible to estimate the long-term response of immunotherapy drugs. In fact, we are already partially into the great unknown. According to my doctor, they have not yet seen a patient as young as me, with this aggressive of a lung cancer, that has responded so powerfully and positively.

The next big milestone is August 3; the date of the next CT scan. It is an understatement to say that this is paramount. The continued positive progress made since the last CT scan present us with the potential to see tremendous results. During the last scan over 50% shrinkage was observed. If we see anything close to this, there won’t be much cancer left in my body. I do think it is extremely unlikely that the cancer is gone completely, but any further progress since the last scan will be positive. Over the next few weeks I will continue to work out as much as possible, eat healthy, and rest in preparation for the next scan. As expected, fatigue continues to be an increasing side effect and I’ve had to get creative in managing an active lifestyle while getting enough rest.

Thanks again for the prayers and support! I expect to have the next blog post published following the CT scan on August 3.