Well,
last week's appointment went well! My CEA is down to 7.1 (woot!), and my
platelets were up to 67. While my doctor wasn't as impressed as I was
with my platelets numbers, he did agree that a 15 point jump in platelets was
worthy of a smile. :)
So, I was able to do chemo on Friday, just Erbitux this time. We decided to hold off the Xeloda for another two weeks. Assuming all goes well, I will have another round of doctor's appointments, etc. next Friday, and start on a one week on/one week off regimen for chemo. Erbitux on a Friday, start the Xeloda that day. Xeloda for 7 days, then off for 7 days, then start the cycle again the following Friday.
My dr is thinking that my body is still recovering from my epic hospital stay, and that's what causing the numbers to keep plummeting. We know that my bone marrow is working a) because of the bone marrow biopsy, and b) because when I have the Neulasta shot, my numbers recover. So, it's just a matter of giving my platelets time to recover enough to warrant giving me chemo.
I was definitely excited about my CEA count, although Dr.K. is always, always conscious of reminding me that he doesn't treat a number. I told him that I understood that, but that it helps me to see that number going down. We agreed that it's likely the Erbitux causing the number to decrease, and we talked about how the Erbitux works. It's not a traditional chemotherapy, in that it doesn't target and kill cancer cells. Instead, it works to stop the cancer cells from growing by inhibiting a growth factor on the cancer cells. So, the lowering CEA indicates that there is likely slowed growth of the cancer.
We talked a bit about how we are going to continue treatment, when CT scans are appropriate, etc. We are going to look at doing a CT at the end of February, as this will give us a good visual of what's going on (and give my dr another data point to make decisions with). Right now, we are hoping for stabilization of growth. That would be the goal. So, here's hoping.
I asked him about going back to work, and specifically, what goals he needs to see me achieve before he'll allow me to return to work. Surprisingly, he said I can go back whenever I want to. While I'm not ready quite yet, I am going to start making some inquiries about opportunities, etc. this week, so I know what my options are. I'm excited about it, but I'm also scared out of my mind. Going back to work seems like such a normal thing to do, such a wonderfully normal thing, and I feel like I'm tempting fate by even thinking about it. So, I'll start asking around and make a slow, informed decision.
What else? Oh - Kevin broke his arm this weekend in a fabulous bike crash. I have to take him tomorrow to get his hard cast on. He'll be fine, but as he broke his right arm, and he's right handed - well, I'll be helping him with his homework for a while.
I have some other ideas rolling around in my head for blog posts, but they are going to have to wait. I have a ton to get done today....so, on that note, have a fabulous Tuesday, my friends!
So, I was able to do chemo on Friday, just Erbitux this time. We decided to hold off the Xeloda for another two weeks. Assuming all goes well, I will have another round of doctor's appointments, etc. next Friday, and start on a one week on/one week off regimen for chemo. Erbitux on a Friday, start the Xeloda that day. Xeloda for 7 days, then off for 7 days, then start the cycle again the following Friday.
My dr is thinking that my body is still recovering from my epic hospital stay, and that's what causing the numbers to keep plummeting. We know that my bone marrow is working a) because of the bone marrow biopsy, and b) because when I have the Neulasta shot, my numbers recover. So, it's just a matter of giving my platelets time to recover enough to warrant giving me chemo.
I was definitely excited about my CEA count, although Dr.K. is always, always conscious of reminding me that he doesn't treat a number. I told him that I understood that, but that it helps me to see that number going down. We agreed that it's likely the Erbitux causing the number to decrease, and we talked about how the Erbitux works. It's not a traditional chemotherapy, in that it doesn't target and kill cancer cells. Instead, it works to stop the cancer cells from growing by inhibiting a growth factor on the cancer cells. So, the lowering CEA indicates that there is likely slowed growth of the cancer.
We talked a bit about how we are going to continue treatment, when CT scans are appropriate, etc. We are going to look at doing a CT at the end of February, as this will give us a good visual of what's going on (and give my dr another data point to make decisions with). Right now, we are hoping for stabilization of growth. That would be the goal. So, here's hoping.
I asked him about going back to work, and specifically, what goals he needs to see me achieve before he'll allow me to return to work. Surprisingly, he said I can go back whenever I want to. While I'm not ready quite yet, I am going to start making some inquiries about opportunities, etc. this week, so I know what my options are. I'm excited about it, but I'm also scared out of my mind. Going back to work seems like such a normal thing to do, such a wonderfully normal thing, and I feel like I'm tempting fate by even thinking about it. So, I'll start asking around and make a slow, informed decision.
What else? Oh - Kevin broke his arm this weekend in a fabulous bike crash. I have to take him tomorrow to get his hard cast on. He'll be fine, but as he broke his right arm, and he's right handed - well, I'll be helping him with his homework for a while.
I have some other ideas rolling around in my head for blog posts, but they are going to have to wait. I have a ton to get done today....so, on that note, have a fabulous Tuesday, my friends!
Comments:
Carol
Pack Urban said...
AWESOME
NEWS! FREAKING AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
January
28, 2014 at 2:31 PM
this
post gave me a really big smile. Yahoo
January
28, 2014 at 6:03 PM
I
love hearing the up beat girl back..just your words show your inside
feelings..good news about you...tell Kevin to take it easy on yall..lol..
January
30, 2014 at 10:09 AM
No comments:
Post a Comment