Hi,
It has been several months since I plagued you all with an update on what is going on with me. That is primarily because there was nothing of significance to report. I'm not really sure if this qualifies as significant either, now that I think about it :-\
Back in July I told you that:
- I flunked a clinical trial
- I agreed to a broncoscopy to gather additional tumor tissue for testing
- I began a course of chemotherapy
The tissue samples were tested for four known genetic mutations that I might have. I tested positive for one of those. Of course, it was the only one of the four that does not yet have a targeted drug available. There is some hope that one will be released after the first of the year. If that happens, it is likely that I will be enrolled in a clinical trial of that drug.
I have been having chemotherapy since July and, apart from being very tired all the time, seemed to be doing quite well until about a month ago. That was when I developed a pretty severe cough that didn't respond to any over-the-counter stuff. I called Dr. D and got an appointment with her. I had just had a good CT scan a few days before so there was no fear of anything dramatic being wrong. She thought that I might have some type of infection and prescribed an antibiotic (biggest pills I have ever seen in my life! . Ray, my sister and I were scheduled to leave on a trip to Virginia the next day and she was fine with that. She thought that I would feel fine within two days. WRONG!
The cough didn't subside, the antibiotic made me feel miserable and it rained for five days in a row in Virginia. The up side to the rain is that I didn't feel guilty about sleeping half the day :-) I quit taking the pills and eventually the sun came out. I still had the cough but felt much better. As soon as we got home, I had another appointment with Dr. D and told her all that had transpired. She thought that a laser treatment might be helpful and got in touch with the pulmonologist who had given my initial diagnosis almost two years ago (can you believe that?). They reviewed my most recent CT scan and his opinion was that my tumor was in a place that would make laser treatment technically difficult. He recommended radiation.
Fast forward to today - many discussions were held, many tests were looked at, and I have now met the radiation oncologist, been "tattooed" and will begin radiation treatment next Wednesday. The radiation should reduce or eliminate the evident cause of the coughing and will have a side benefit of reducing the size of the tumor by a bit. I am actually looking forward to this. 3cm seems like a small mass but when it is in one's lung, one can feel it. Smaller will be better :-)
As always, I thank you for your support and for reading these messages :-) If you have any prayers or good thoughts to spare, I have a couple of friends who could use them for the next few weeks.
Thank you! Rita