Positive Results but a Long Journey Ahead

Welcome to the next Thriving not Just Surviving Blog post. This past week I underwent another CT scan to monitor the progress of the last 4 rounds of the 2 drug chemotherapy regimen. This time the scan revealed that several of the enlarged lymph nodes were slightly shrunken in size and the others remained stable. So this is encouraging progress. 

Now that I have completed the initial four rounds using the 2 drugs my oncologist wants to continue with a single chemotherapy drug (Pemetrexed) for the long term. In this case the "long term" means up to two years or until the cancer stops responding. Right now it's hard to wrap my mind around receiving a chemotherapy infusion every three weeks for the next few years, but such is the life of a stage four cancer patient. The goal is to get the "best bang for your buck" out of each treatment option before moving on to the next. 

Additionally, our only other option is the clinical trial that I had briefly mentioned in a previous post. This option is still available, but its only a phase 1 trial and there is little information regarding its efficacy at this point. If my current regimen stops working we will move to this trial, but for now we plan to move forward as discussed with the chemotherapy. However, as with all things medical, everything is very fluid and there are constantly new advances being made every month that could impact our plan.

We also met with the neurologist and made adjusted adjustments to some of my secondary seizure medications that were interacting adversely with the anti-nausea medication. It's been a constant battle trying to balance the use of anti-nausea and anti-seizure medications at the same time because they both work similarly on the brain. I would not wish epilepsy and stage 4 cancer on my worst enemy, as the side effects have continued to worsen with each round of cancer treatment. 

As always, Maureen and I continue to be thankful for the prayers and support from everyone and will continue to share our journey that God has given us.