Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Groovy, Man.
We had a visit with Lita today. Dr. Hayes is often traveling, accepting awards and presenting papers and what not, so I don't actually see him that frequently. It's the price to be paid for having a rock-star oncologist (and by that I mean a very renowned expert in the field of breast cancer), but Lita can handle things just fine.
I'm feeling great, aside from a few residual digestive issues, which may be lingering aftereffects from the Avastin, so I should be mindful but not paranoid. I have no pain anywhere, which is pretty astonishing in light of where I was two years ago.
The EKG I had recently showed that my heart is better than normal. Even if I were to suffer some loss of function from the Adriamycin, it would do just fine. There is a lifetime limit on Adriamycin because it does cause heart damage, but according to Lita, if it does well and keeps me stable, it may be possible to take "heart protecting" drugs to be able to prolong its use.
She also said that I was looking great, and wanted to know what was different. Had I done my eyebrows differently, or something? I said that I've been wearing the blonde wig a lot, and today's was brown. I didn't mention (although this could also be a factor) that I've lost about ten pounds and am nearly in the weight range that was "normal" for me--without having to exert special effort--when I was healthy. I dunno. I just FEEL better. I've been chipper and snarky (to Brian's chagrin, no doubt).
We walked in the door today after coming home from infusion just in time to answer Lita's phone call: she had my lab results which weren't available at the appointment. My CA15.something-or-other test shows that my tumor markers have dropped about forty points. The CEA test (also for tumor markers) blipped up a little bit, but it is Lita's opinion that the CA15 is more specific to breast cancer and therefore more important. I'm pretty happy with that. She also said my liver function was "much improved," which is pretty groovy.
November 5 was the four-year anniversary of my mastectomy. October 30 was the two-year anniversary of being diagnosed with metastatic disease. This could be a depressing time of year if I wasn't feeling so terrific. I got good news, I got my energy back. I'm bald and gimpy, but you can't have everything.
I'm feeling great, aside from a few residual digestive issues, which may be lingering aftereffects from the Avastin, so I should be mindful but not paranoid. I have no pain anywhere, which is pretty astonishing in light of where I was two years ago.
The EKG I had recently showed that my heart is better than normal. Even if I were to suffer some loss of function from the Adriamycin, it would do just fine. There is a lifetime limit on Adriamycin because it does cause heart damage, but according to Lita, if it does well and keeps me stable, it may be possible to take "heart protecting" drugs to be able to prolong its use.
She also said that I was looking great, and wanted to know what was different. Had I done my eyebrows differently, or something? I said that I've been wearing the blonde wig a lot, and today's was brown. I didn't mention (although this could also be a factor) that I've lost about ten pounds and am nearly in the weight range that was "normal" for me--without having to exert special effort--when I was healthy. I dunno. I just FEEL better. I've been chipper and snarky (to Brian's chagrin, no doubt).
We walked in the door today after coming home from infusion just in time to answer Lita's phone call: she had my lab results which weren't available at the appointment. My CA15.something-or-other test shows that my tumor markers have dropped about forty points. The CEA test (also for tumor markers) blipped up a little bit, but it is Lita's opinion that the CA15 is more specific to breast cancer and therefore more important. I'm pretty happy with that. She also said my liver function was "much improved," which is pretty groovy.
November 5 was the four-year anniversary of my mastectomy. October 30 was the two-year anniversary of being diagnosed with metastatic disease. This could be a depressing time of year if I wasn't feeling so terrific. I got good news, I got my energy back. I'm bald and gimpy, but you can't have everything.
Labels: Adriamycin, Avastin, baldness, Brian, Dr. Hayes, Lita, liver, tumor marker, wigs
