Brief History 2009

I've updated my Brief History with the latest stuff...

In Dec 2005, I had a routine physical just coz I turned 30 that year. I was expecting a clean bill of health. But I did mention to the doctor that my father had a heart attack in his late 30's so they did an EKG.

Everything was fine except for the EKG. There were some abnormalities that they could not even determine with a sonogram of the heart.

Jan 2006 - So I saw a cardiologist. She did a CT scan of the heart. Turns out my heart was great. Although my lungs had cancer. So a pulmonologist verified it to be Stage 3B Non Small Cell Lung Cancer (Bronchio Alveolar Adenocarcinoma). It was inoperable since I had it in both lungs and it had spread thru the lymphatic system. (Usually a cancer grows in tumors. Mine had spread into thousands of tiny little tumors all over the lungs.) I started to see my oncologist.

I started treatment Feb 28, 2006. My first regimen consisted of Cisplatin and Taxotere on a 21 day cycle. I receive treatment at my doctor's office - Virginia Cancer Care in Loudoun county.

May 2006 - I had a CT scan that showed no change. My doctor and I decided to move to a gentler regimen so that I can work. My new regimen consisted of Carboplatin and Gemzar. Since the side effects were not too bad, I started to go back to work full time.

Aug 2006 - My doctor got insurance authorization to start me on Avastin.

Jan 2007 - PET scan showed no significant change. Again, we changed my regimen - Tarceva (since it has shown promising results on young, non-smoking Asian females) and Avastin. I'm not on chemo anymore. I'm on targeted therapy.

May 2007 - PET scan showed that the primary tumor has doubled in size. And that the spread of the cancer is now more dense in the right lung than before. We're changing the regimen again. Avastin and Alimta (chemo) every 21 days.

Jun 2008 - PET scan showed that the disease was stable.

Aug 2008 - Problem: Liquid in my lungs. Doctor extracted with big bad needle. (Thoracentesis)

Sep 2008 - Liquid in my lungs return with a vengance. Another visit to the doctor with the big needle. (Thoracentesis)

Oct 2008 - PET scan showed disease was growing fast. There are 2 things I needed to do. 1) Take care of the liquid in my lungs with a pleurodesis. 2) Change medication. After a year and a half, Avastin and Alimta had run it's course.

Nov 2008 - Instead of getting the pleurodesis, the doctor put in a PleurX Cathether.

Dec 2008 - New chemotherapy: Cisplatin and Navalbene on a 28 day cycle. Very difficult.

April 2009 - PET scan shows vast improvement in size and activity. Slight change in dosing: Instead of getting Cisplatin all in Day 1, it is split to 3 days so that I can be given more fluids to help with the side effects.

Surgery details

Here's what happened to me last November/December....

November (my surgery)
They were supposed to perform a pleurodesis - fuse the lung wall to the chest wall to prevent liquid from accumulating. When I came to, they told me they did not get to do the pleurodesis. There was diseased cells on the chest wall. Instead, I have a catheter.

It's the latest in catheter technology. I'm not connected to a bag. It's only a hose. I connect it to a vacuum bottle whenever I need to drain my lung.

Am I pissed? Hell, yea! But it is what it is...

December (next step in treatment)
My oncologist was looking around for my next cocktail since the last one (Avastin/Alimta combo) stopped working. At this point, she's told me that I've taken all the best medication for lung cancer out there. I'm running out of options. I thought I'd check out Johns Hopkins and see what they had to offer. (BTW, thanks to Kathy and Justin for hooking me up!)

I looked into their clinical trials. Unfortunately, they do not cover all costs. They usually ask insurance to cover "regular care". My insurance will not cover any procedure connected to anything experimental. So, nix that.

Good thing my oncologist found one more older drug - Navalbene. We're to use it in conjunction with Cisplatin. I've taken Cisplatin before. It's one of my first drugs. My first combo was Cisplatin and Taxotere. That really wiped me out. It also wiped out my hair. I took it the first 3 months and did not work much at the time.

How am I doing on it now? I've been on 2 miserable cycles. It takes me 9 to 10 days to recover. The nausea is terrible. I can't eat so I'm very weak. My doctor says it's only supposed to last 5 days. She's given me more anti-nausea pills for this next cycle. (I've also been going to an accupuncturinst.) Hopefully, we can reduce the nausea and generally bad effects to 5 days.

Despite it all, I'm still optimistic. There has to be a way through this. What won't kill you will only make you stronger. And I intend to win this.

PET Scan results (6/16/2008)

I had a PET scan done yesterday and my doctor got a preliminary report today.
Bottom line: It's stable. It's almost the same as the last scan. She's very happy which makes me happy.

I'm not changing my medications in any way. I'll still be taking my Alimta/Avastin combo.

The scan did show that I might have some fluid in my right lung. I'm seeing my lung doctor next week to have it drained. (Does not sound fun but I'll handle it.)

Don't get me wrong, I'm fine with these results. I'm living a normal life and this means I'll keep my lifestyle despite the cancer. Whenever I get scanned, I always try to envision the best case scenario. I let it play in my head willing it to come true. I envision my doctor telling me that it's gone and I don't have to do chemo anymore.

But it's not time yet. It'll come though. I believe it.
Please keep praying for me and believing in my recovery.
For those who keep the faith, Thanks! It really helps to have the spirit of many behind me.

That's why they call it CYCLE.

I had another cycle last week. Yes, it was worse than usual. But what does that mean exactly? Well, I was able to work Wed to Fri. Then I got this terrible headache around Friday afternoon. I spent most of Saturday sleeping it off.

My friend did energy healing on me. She warned me that a lot of bad energy is flowing out. That's good for me in the long run but it was going to be rough for a little while. That little while lasted about 5 or 6 more hours. It was just a bad headache and aches and pains in different places. When I woke up the next day, I felt that the worst was over. I took Monday and Tuesday off to recover from my weekend.

Since then, I was just burried in work. As usual...

I'm alright, until my next cycle.

My skin is clearing

Today, I had someone compliment my skin. She actually said that my pimples are clearing up. I was actually surprised. I've been noticing that for a couple of months now. But I would notice it after my shower. I thought the bath would refresh my skin and give it a nice glow. That's after almost one whole year of being off Tarceva. (Feb - May 07 --> check out my articles during that time for more gory details.)

My complimentary co-worker just started a few months back so she does not know of my lung cancer. It's just been awkward to talk about it - since it isn't so obvious. I know I ought to be spreading the word but... (ah, yes, guilt, an old friend).

I guess that's what's this blog is about. I'm not sure who else reads it though. Maybe I should just publish my blog e-mail so I'll get more feedback. No one seems to be commenting lately (that' s not a hint).

What is this blog about? It's about my normal life. Well, it's very close to normal. If you don't count chemotherapy. That's the only aberration.

But if I'm not spreading the word around people I know, what's the point, right? I'm not in the least a pushy person. (I'm not a pushy?)

That's what this blog is for. So I can say what I won't in real life. Wow, that does NOT sound like me at all. Back in high school and college, I would say whatever I wanted to. Now, I can't talk about my illness or even my sex life. But, I guess, I felt that people back home are more accepting. (Sounds like a good topic for the future.)