Hard Decision Made

I had another conversation with my oncologist and with his encouragement have decided to go ahead with cycles 5 and 6 of the IL-2 treatment. But I decided to wait and schedule them to begin in mid-August in order to give me more time to recover and to enjoy some more of the summer which has finally arrived in Oregon. I am trying to pack in as much as I can before I have to go into the hospital.

I had a fabulous time in Southern Oregon over the weekend. Two dear friends and I stayed at a beautiful golf resort and spa (Running Y in Klamath Falls) and played two rounds of golf and enjoyed spa treatments. Then we drove to Ashland for shopping and a play (Moliere's the Imaginary Invalid). Only drawback was Sunday was very hot (99) and the play was performed in a tent which may have been even hotter! (The support beam in the indoor theater cracked so they were putting on the plays in a tent in Lithia Park.) It cooled off this morning for our final round of golf and the trip home. L know that I am getting my strength back to be able to do all that we did this weekend and not to be really exhausted. Instead I feel energized by the weekend: all the laughs and fun that we had!

Results of the Scans

Well, the news wasn't really good and it wasn't bad...it was somewhere in between. Of course, I had hoped that the scans would show a marked decrease in tumor size and activity from the last scans after cycles 1 and 2, but what they showed was that I am holding my own against the disease. One small tumor had disappeared, one small tumor was a little larger and the two large tumors were unchanged from the last scans. What does this mean?? Well, it is not clear. But based on his experience with other IL-2 patients, my oncologist believes that the IL-2 treatments are enhancing my immune system to fight the disease. But because there was no dramatic difference between these scans, he recommended that I continue with cycles 5 and 6 to see if we could boost my immune system even more. So I am now mulling over the question of whether to put myself through another two cycles, weighing the risks vs the benefits and assessing whether I have enough courage to face those side effects again.

Scans tomorrow

I have been keeping myself busy the last few days so that I don't have time to worry about my upcoming scans and doctor's visit. The photo is of my Best Ball Golf team. We didn't get our photos in our golf outfits because it poured both mornings that we played and when we were done we looked like drowned rats. Such a shame for this big tournament to have two days of rain (on the driest days of the year in Corvallis, supposedly). We weathered the rain quite well on day one and posted a good score, but it was so cold and wet today and we all were tired and miserable that none of us played well at all. BUT I did wind the closest to the pin contest for my handicap yesterday!

I have been reading a very interesting book,The Emperor of All Maladies: a biography of cancer by Siddhartha Mukerjee. It details the history of the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, especially over the last 50 years as researchers learn more and more about the biology and biochemistry of cancer. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the progress that has been made in developing targeted therapies.

Do keep me in your thoughts and send positive energy my way over the next two days as I find out what my future will bring.

Phew!

If I wasn't anxious enough about my upcoming PET/CT scans next week, I was called back today for a follow-up mammogram because the radiologist saw something on the films from my yearly visit. They did two more views and I met with the radiologist who was still a bit concerned about a density on the films near the chest wall. So she wanted me to have an ultrasound. Luckily, they could work me in this afternoon. The tech spent about 1/2 hour taking images and then the radiologist redid the ultra sound herself. By this time I was really concerned and after they kept pointing to things on the screen, I asked what they were finding. The radiologist said that they weren't finding anything except a cyst....wish they had told me that earlier! It would have kept my stomach from tying up in knots and my mind from creating all these nasty scenarios. In the end, the radiologist concluded that what she saw was an artifact and just to make sure, she wants me to come back in 6 months for another set of scans. I am so thankful that nothing was found. I don't think I could have coped with breast cancer on top of the melanoma!!

Great 4th of July!!

I had a wonderful 4th of July weekend at the coast with my two sisters, Sue and Ann and Ann's husband. We took long walks on the beach (I'm getting stronger by the day), had great food, played all sorts of games, and had dinner with friends on the 3rd with stimulating conversations and fireworks that you could actually see this year. The weather was beautiful for the Oregon coast at this time of year but as you can see from the photo...we had brilliant sunshine but very chilly wind. (People think that I am crazy when I tell them to bring winter coats to the coast in July!!)

Weekend of Surprises

I played my second round of 18 holes of golf on Friday and held up pretty well. Even scored one of my best back nines. The additional thyroid medicine is really beginning to help my energy level. Saturday was a day of celebration for a friend and her family as her son had his bar mitzvah. He did an amazing job with a long Haftorah and an winning smile. The evening was a dinner dance at the MU ballroom. The music was LOUD but everyone got up and danced. I even danced a few songs.

Got home late and tired and let Sophie out. She went running around and barking and I opened to the door to let her in and was overwhelmed by skunk odor. She had caught a skunk in the yard. Sophie was freaked out and scared. I couldn't leave her out back and she was very upset when I tried to leave her in the garage. I was way too tired to start bathing her at 11 pm. So I closed off all the house and let her sleep right outside the bedroom door. Up at 6 am to start the process of washing Sophie and trying to get the odor out of my house. I didn't have any tomato juice but did have soda water. So I bathed her three times in soda water and then two times in dog shampoo. After an hour, she didn't smell too bad. I went to the dollar store and got lots of scented candles and burned them all over the house. By the end of the day the odor wasn't too bad.

Sad thing is that the weather is now getting warm enough to sit outside. Now when I sit outside on my patio and the wind is blowing one direction, you get eau de rose and the other direction eau de skunk!!

No wonder I was tired!

Had blood tests on Monday and talked with the doctor yesterday. Not only am I anemic but my thyroid is totally out of whack. One of the lasting side effects of IL-2 is permanent damage to your thyroid. So the next month or two we will be adjusting thyroid medication to get me back in the normal range. They think that the problem with the thyroid is also causing the anemia so we will see if that straightens out as well. I am looking forward to having more energy in the next few weeks.

Some of you have wondered if I ever get photos of Jon's little ones. One of the problems is getting Dash to be still long enough to snap a photo. But I did have a few quiet moments with both of them and captured this wonderful photo. I am such a biased Granny, but what cuties Dash and Finley are!!!