My Opdivo treatments are gong well, still having them every two weeks, but I am not noticing that I am pretty wiped out for up to a week each time and have had more nausea and belly aches. Nothing extremely painful, but some days were pretty lousy and I spent a lot of time in bed. NO fun!
I'm finally feeling better, but my next treatment is coming up on Tuesday and that's only a few day away now.
It's hard to believe, but it will also be One Year since I was first diagnosed, this Sunday (Easter), on March 27th. A date, I'll never forget. And boy have I been through a lot in that year. Sometimes I feels like I've had Cancer much longer and then in some ways it's hard to believe a year has passed. But, considering I have Stage IV Cancer that had spread to my brain before I even knew, I am thankful to be alive and happy that my treatments are working. Because my cancer is "Late Stage" I am technically still considered "incurable" but treatable, so that's also a good thing. Just one year ago, Opdivo was not even FDA approved for my type of Lung Cancer and I know in many ways I'm now lucky to that I have it.
For whose of you who may be new to this blog, I had a specialized form of radiation (SRS) last May for my brain tumor and it has been gone since -- YAY! I then had chemo for my Lung tumor and that was also gone in August, but came back with a vengeance in November. I then had a quick course of high dose Radiation done, and started on this new treatment (also infused, like Chemo), but is a form of Immunotherapy. Now many feel that this type of treatment will eventually be what cures cancer. I hope they are right.
As you may remember I almost did not opt to try this drug. The side effects (some fatal and ver serious) really scared me, and that time, with it also being so new, I was too scared to try it. But, I did some research, talked to my PCP and also has several talks with my Primary Oncologist (Dr. Sunkara) and decided to try it. So far, so good, but I know that for many, the "bad" side effects do not show up at first, so we are being very cautious and I have a long list of changes that I must immediately report to my the team. I have had the belly aches and that did scare me, but the Abdominal CT scan was fine, and they will continue to monitor me. I also have lab work done every week, to watch for any other changes, the drug is known for.
One of the many reasons I chose to try it was because of the people I met through an online Medical forum, who are one Opdivo, many were part of the Clinical trials and reading their stories what made me chance my mind. The group is on Inspire.com and has several sub-groups all based on types of cancer and other illnesses. I also found, CancerGrace, a medical based group with a wealth of information for patients or their families.
My new task in life is trying to organize my life (stuff), and as a Paper-crafter (a hobby I LOVE), I know have literally 100's of items that I'm now going to slowly sell. There is simply no way my dear Hubby will ever know what to do with all of this and right now we can put the money to good use toward all my medical expenses. You can find all my "Craft Sale Goodies" on my craft blog - ThePurplePlace. Please stop by and please feel free to share!
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend and for those of you who celebrate it, Happy Easter!
1 comment:
Thanks for sharing Lisa. I hope your recovery from this treatment is quick and the medicine is working for you.
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