I had a
drs appt with my med-onc team today, om anticipation of the next round of
chemo, which is scheduled for tomorrow morning. Admittedly, I went in
with a heavy heart. I'm struggling emotionally with what I'm going
through, and knowing that another round of chemo with the pump (and the ensuing
nausea/fatigue/dumbness/amnesia) wasn't exciting me at all. Matter of
fact, it was making me more anxious and nauseous. I know that chemo is
necessary, but that doesn't make me hate it any less.
Vitals were taken (I'm up about 14 pounds since this all started....sigh), and Dr. Granick came in. He had heard my complaints about nausea, etc. from the intake nurse, and immediately addressed those. The good news is that my CEA is down again, to 1.6. The even better news? That we are moving to the new chemo regiment, effective tomorrow. This means that I don't have the pump anymore!!!
His thoughts are that, since I'm having such a hard time handling the 5-FU (which is what's in the pump), we should shift to the new chemo regiment tomorrow. Keeping me on the Folfiri and Avastin isn't going to have a make-or-break effect on my overall prognosis, and he's completely comfortable switching things up.
That whooshing sound you hear? It's my sigh of relief.
I can't tell you how happy I am that I can face this week with a smile, knowing that I won't lose any days. On a Folfiri week, I literally lose days - they go off into a netherworld somewhere called chemo-land, never to be seen again. This new chemo is only two drugs, Irinotecan and Erbitux (see previous posts for links to information on these drugs), and should be much better tolerated. The only icky side effect I'll have is the Erbitux rash, which is basically an acne-like rash on the upper half of my body, similar to puberty acne.
Freaking awesome. But, it's not nausea, so I can't complain too much. Yet.
Beyond that, there are a few things I need to keep an eye out for, but the general consensus is that I will tolerate this MUCH better than the Folfiri. This makes me so happy. I won't have to come home with the pump (yay for showering daily!). I won't have to worry about fitting life into a single week (this chemo is every three weeks, and only a few hours of infusion).
Exhale. Breathe in. And, exhale.
I know this isn't the end, and that there's a chance I could go back on the 5-FU at a future date. We can always add that back if the CEA numbers start to go up again. But, for now, this is a good move. According to the pathology testing on the original tumor that CTCA had done, my particular cancer is going to be extremely receptive to the Erbitux.
I asked how the Erbitux works - in laymen's terms, the Erbitux stops receptors on the outside layers of the cancer cell from telling the nucleus to split, thus stopping growth of the cancer. This is good. The Irinotecan will continue to kill what's still in there, and the Erbitux stops it from growing anymore. All good things. Well, for me. Not so good for the stupid cancer.
I asked about future scans. We are going to do at least three of the I/E combo, then do another CT scan. From there, we'll probably make a decision on where to go. Right now, I'm just happy to make the move to I/E. So. Happy.
All right - off to more appointments here today. Massage, OT, and acupuncture. And now, I'm going to finish my lunch. Keep the good vibes going. People, it's working. I tell you, it's definitely working.
Vitals were taken (I'm up about 14 pounds since this all started....sigh), and Dr. Granick came in. He had heard my complaints about nausea, etc. from the intake nurse, and immediately addressed those. The good news is that my CEA is down again, to 1.6. The even better news? That we are moving to the new chemo regiment, effective tomorrow. This means that I don't have the pump anymore!!!
His thoughts are that, since I'm having such a hard time handling the 5-FU (which is what's in the pump), we should shift to the new chemo regiment tomorrow. Keeping me on the Folfiri and Avastin isn't going to have a make-or-break effect on my overall prognosis, and he's completely comfortable switching things up.
That whooshing sound you hear? It's my sigh of relief.
I can't tell you how happy I am that I can face this week with a smile, knowing that I won't lose any days. On a Folfiri week, I literally lose days - they go off into a netherworld somewhere called chemo-land, never to be seen again. This new chemo is only two drugs, Irinotecan and Erbitux (see previous posts for links to information on these drugs), and should be much better tolerated. The only icky side effect I'll have is the Erbitux rash, which is basically an acne-like rash on the upper half of my body, similar to puberty acne.
Freaking awesome. But, it's not nausea, so I can't complain too much. Yet.
Beyond that, there are a few things I need to keep an eye out for, but the general consensus is that I will tolerate this MUCH better than the Folfiri. This makes me so happy. I won't have to come home with the pump (yay for showering daily!). I won't have to worry about fitting life into a single week (this chemo is every three weeks, and only a few hours of infusion).
Exhale. Breathe in. And, exhale.
I know this isn't the end, and that there's a chance I could go back on the 5-FU at a future date. We can always add that back if the CEA numbers start to go up again. But, for now, this is a good move. According to the pathology testing on the original tumor that CTCA had done, my particular cancer is going to be extremely receptive to the Erbitux.
I asked how the Erbitux works - in laymen's terms, the Erbitux stops receptors on the outside layers of the cancer cell from telling the nucleus to split, thus stopping growth of the cancer. This is good. The Irinotecan will continue to kill what's still in there, and the Erbitux stops it from growing anymore. All good things. Well, for me. Not so good for the stupid cancer.
I asked about future scans. We are going to do at least three of the I/E combo, then do another CT scan. From there, we'll probably make a decision on where to go. Right now, I'm just happy to make the move to I/E. So. Happy.
All right - off to more appointments here today. Massage, OT, and acupuncture. And now, I'm going to finish my lunch. Keep the good vibes going. People, it's working. I tell you, it's definitely working.
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