Fifteen months (!) into her treatments for small-cell lung cancer and she is doing ok. That's about the news in a nutshell. She has endured 7 cycles of chemo last Fall and Winter, radiation therapy that put her in the hospital twice last Spring, and when more spots showed up in her PET scans this Summer, is in the middle of yet more chemo now. She lost her hair in the first chemo, again in the radiation, and is at least thankful for a little now as we again cycle into cooler weather (see right!). The PET scan last week showed the better news has slowed. Of the 3 spots in lymph nodes in her abdomen, only 1 showed improvement even in the midst of chemo treatments, so the oncologist has called for a shakeup in strategy. Because these remaining spots are near her intestines, they don't feel radiation is a good option. We were told early on that the cancer might develop an "immunity" to the same chemo over the long run, and that appears to be happening with the Cisplatin. So she is switching to another of the ones she got early on - Etoposide. She is suspecting that she'll lose her hair again from this one, but remains committed to as aggressive a treatment as the oncologist is willing to go... She seems a lot less bothered by the nausea than I am, and that would likely be easier to tolerate if it wasn't for the fall she took when she passed out the day after Labor Day. Her back has been bothering her since and the pain of that injury is likely bothering her the most. But she soldiers on, enjoying her thick, curly dark hair even as it is likely to leave us like the autumn leaves... But it will grow back someday. So that's the story - you are now up to date as she starts the Etoposide tomorrow if her platelet count is high enough. Any questions now?
Posts
1 comment:
Thank you for the update. Praying for you Mel! what about a second opinion on those stubborn abdominal nodes, at Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Phx?
Post a Comment