Because that’s what I feel like I’ve been doing for a couple of months. Until now, it’s been pretty easy to maintain a Cup is Half-Full, Silver Lining kind of mindset. Lately, some days, sometimes some days in a row, sometimes a good number of days in a row, it is a struggle. It’s not…
The Cancer Chapters
Out With the Old. Goodbye, 2018!
Maybe I just like the perfection of timing of it, but I am ending 2018 in the most perfect way. December 31 was my last Proton Therapy session. That’s 20 down, 0 to go, if you’ve been counting along with me. I got my discharge papers, my graduation certificate and photos of ringing the Bell…
All I Want for Christmas is a Successful Appeal, A Super Successful Proton Therapy Experience, and World Peace. (Is That so Much to Ask?)
The lead in this story is that the proton therapy is working. I’m 15 days in now (5 to go!). Dr Simone said I probably wouldn’t notice improvements in breathing and heart function for two weeks, but things started getting better after five days. My heart rate used to cap out at about 117 during…
A Bit of Reality, then things got unBELIZEable (and now, I can’t Belize it, but I’m in the hospital)
“Well, your disease is stable. In a couple of places, we could say there’s a small amount of shrinkage.” Everyone stares at everyone until I say, “Well, that complicates things doesn’t it?” I’d added on one more month of the CRLX101 trial, just to keep that option open after my last CT scan showed growth,…
A Change Would Do You Good
Allow me to pilfer Sheryl Crow lyrics to head up this post. The song has been bouncing around in my head for a couple of weeks now. That and David Bowie’s Ch-ch-changes. Guess what: Changes in my protocol are looming. And that’s a good thing. I haven’t altered my lifestyle much except for the intensity…
Dogleg Left, Dogleg Right**
There hasn’t been much straightforward with my treatments or trials. We forge down one path, and when it starts getting too gnarly to pass through, we find another. That’s about where we are right now. My CT scan shows growth of 16%, but Dr Thomas says some areas have more growth than that. 20% is…