The Beast is Back

Yesterday I had my monthly checkup to go over my CT scan results with my oncologist, Laurie Small. There is no fun way to share the results--it appears that there are some spots of cancer which appeared on this scan, Tuesday. My CA125 has also risen to 65 (anything below 35 is considered normal). So, I am now officially off the drug trial that I was on, and will be going back into treatment for this recurrence. I will be going on Doxil for my chemo. This will mean monthly infusions, and is supposed to be a relatively well tolerated drug. There should be no more hair loss (good thing, I only have about 10 left) and the other side effects are the typical--nausea and fatigue. The worst side effect is skin rashes on the trunk and arms and legs, and something called PPE, which is a severe rash and skin peeling (like a bad sunburn) which occurs on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. This does not mean that I will get all the side effects, but those are the most common ones. Before I begin treatment, she is referring me to a gynecological urologist. The Dr. who read the CT scan also found what he thought was scar tissue on my urethra (I know that is misspelled--it is the tube from the kidney to the bladder). Since this is not her specialty, she wants me to see a specialist so that if there is any treatment needed for that, it can be done before the chemo begins. IF there is significant scar tissue, they might decide to put a stent in the tube to prevent any further blockage. Currently there are not problems with my kidney function numbers, but she just feels this should be checked out before the Doxil, so that if there is surgery needed, it will happen before the chemo. She would also like me to consider having a port surgically implanted to make accessing a vein easier for chemo and blood draws. This is a catheter place directly into an artery below the collarbone, so there is always a place to access for chemo infusions or blood work. About half of the patients have them. So--all in all not the greatest news, lots to digest and learn about. I have had a good run of remission, and Laurie feels that I will be able to achieve another remission with this treatment. I just wanted everyone who reads this to have the information as I received it. I'm not sure that anyone but Cheryl even reads this anymore, and Cheryl already knows because she stopped by right after I got home from my appointment. Wish I could think of some cute picture to post with this or some clever retort to end this with, but right now I can't--so I'll just leave it with cancer sucks--please support the American Cancer Society and Relay for Life--Nancy