Good News....and bad.

I am in my chemo chair now, having just visited with the doctor, and I figured I would try to get this done before I get sick. :-) The anticipatory nausea is beginning to settle in but I think I can keep that at bay for a bit longer.

First the good news. I had a CT scan today and it looks great. My lungs are looking much healthier, one of the lymph nodes that was affected has disappeared (it isn't lit up so that means the cancer doesn't appear to be active there.) and while the scan hasn't been read by the radiologist yet, just looking at the scan shows that everything is going in the right direction.

The bad news, first of all, I gained 13 lbs!! Where in the world did that come from? At least my clothes all still fit me...of course, my doctor wasn't upset about that at all. Keeping weight on for cancer patients is a good thing. But my goodness, that didn't make me happy.

The other thing that didn't make me happy is learning that my chemotherapy is never going to end. I thought it was just a 12 week cycle and that after that I would at least get a break and maybe I could go onto the clinical trial or who knows what, but something different. But, two weeks after treatment #12 I will have treatment #13 and then 14 and on and on for the rest of my life. But, there is some good news to go with that. Today will be the last time I get the Oxaliplatin. It is the drug that makes me cold sensitive. Now I am going to have to use pure will power to stay away from the ice cream. But not having that drug will definitely make a difference in how I feel and will also make my chemotherapy go quicker on the days that I come in. Then, after my next scan in 3 months, if it looks good then I will be taken off of the Irinotecan. That is one drug that makes me very sick and is also the main culprit that causes hair loss so if I can get rid of that drug my hair can start growing back again. At that point I will just be on the flourouracil  which is the one I have to wear the pump for. The side effects for that are pretty minimal and life should seem pretty normal at that point.

All in all, I know I can be grateful. Better to keep going and reduce the amount of drugs that I have to take than to get the break I was hoping for and then start all over again with the drug regiment that I started with. So I guess I just need to readjust my thinking from "when I reach the end of chemo" to "when I only have to take one chemo drug."

My doctor said that she is still incredibly impressed with how well I have done on the three drugs. She said I am a poster child for this therapy. I think they really should make a poster with me and then pay me for it!! :-) (Just kidding.) I have much to be thankful for. Thank you for all of your prayers and support.