Good question. Short answer: If I want to survive this, it needs to happen. For the more detail-inclined:
After surgery for cancer, tissue is sent to a lab for analysis. Among things, they look at the removed lymph nodes, the actual tumour site, and the area immediately around tumour. These areas can either show evidence of disease, or no evidence of disease. In my case, all the samples showed 'no evidence of disease.' This was unbelievably great news.
That being said. 'No evidence of disease' is taken very literally in cancer treatment. It means EXACTLY that. Not finding evidence of cancer in the tissue tested does NOT mean there aren't some sneaky little rogue cells still lurking around, especially in the case of advanced cancer (check) or aggressive forms (check). In particular, problem areas can be the chest wall and skin, as well as remaining nearby nodes that have not been removed (in my case, the area above the left clavicle).
I feel extremely fortunate that there are two good treatments available to me. My care team has made it very clear that neither of these treatments are considered "optional".
The first is herceptin, quite literally a wonder-drug that I have mentioned before. I will receive doses of herceptin via my handy dandy portacath every 3 weeks for the next year. Herceptin is not technically a chemotherapy, but drug designed to target the receptors on my particular type of cancer. Treatments makes me
Second is radiation. If anything nasty is still lurking in these hard to reach areas of skin, chest wall, or supra-clavicle nodes, we plan to nuke the cr*p out of it. Immediate side affects are fatigue and skin burns, but these should be manageable, and tend to be relatively insignificant compared to chemo (although the skin burns can be unpleasant). Long term side effects are heart and lung damage, but they work hard to keep this to an absolute minimum.
I'm grateful for, and very positive about this treatment plan. I'm also grateful for overall good health, and I'm reminded of the importance of being as fit as you can manage to be. I've tried not to dispense advice in this blog, but do yourself a favour and try not to abuse your kidneys, liver and lungs unnecessarily, keep up good range of motion, and do regular aerobic activity - you never know when you're going to need your body to perform above and beyond the call of duty.
Enough of that.
One of the goals Supportive Husband made at the beginning of this dark journey, when we didn't even know which way was up, was kayaking together in the summer. If you recall, between chemo and surgery we managed a short trip in a rented double kayak. We had someone else do our shuttling. This past weekend, we really made good on that goal with another short 6k trip - this time in our own kayaks, doing our own shuttling. No, I didn't heft any 50lb kayaks myself (Supportive Husband: You expect me to do all the lifting? Me: There have to be one or two reasons to keep you around). It was SO GREAT. We saw at least 5 great white egrets, great blue herons, kingfishers, an osprey, and many other birds. My range of motion was great. My left arm has some nerve damage; as a result it does not obey commands perfectly and tires more quickly, but it was able to get the job done.
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| Happiness |
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| Supportive Husband, Approaching the Cliffs of Insanity |
I have a tentative start date for radiation as being "the week of August 25th". I'm told there's a lot of highly individualized calculating to do based on the measurements taken during the simulation, it just takes time, and there are lots of people who need radiation. Stay tuned. Thanks to all of you for your kind, thoughtful support.
Ms LBF,
ReplyDeleteWe're so very delighted that you are cancer free and that treatment, while not over, has an end date. We're thrilled that you have "supportive husband" and fantastic kiddies in your corner. I love the "happiness" picture. We think of you and pray for you. :)