So. It has not been all quiet on this western front. I had a spike in my tumor marker. My CT scan came back with the lung shrunk, which I did not expect because I have not been breathing great, and the liver grown. The liver can lose around 80% of function before being symptomatic and I am still at around 10-15%.
My oncologist wanted to change chemo's has willingly postponed it. Someone, bless her, has brought it to my attention that I have been struggling around the times of the spring and fall equinoxes. It turns out that in Chinese medicine each organ has a time of year that the energy is stronger. This goes for time of day as well. So, the fall equinox is during the time of the lung and the spring is in time of the liver. All very fascinating. The data does not process precisely as I wish it would. However, 5 of the 8 peaks in my tumor marker are around the equinoxes. 2 of the equinoxes do not have data around them.... So there is a chance that: The chemos themselves did not stop working entirely, but my tumor marker went up, so we got a ct and changed chemo before we could see if it went back down. There is one chemo that it is blatantly not the case. But the others, maybe....
With this information, I am working to take care of my liver, as it is more consistently a problem than my lungs, it seems. I am going to work intensively with my Chinese doc's (yes, I have two of them working together for me) for three weeks. I will go to them 3 days on then 4 days off. They are hoping to change the direction of the cancer without me changing chemos. I want to make sure I get the most out of the chemos so that I do not run out of chemotherapy options. This will start next week, but because of this, I am going to change my chemo schedule and go on Fridays starting tomorrow. That is going to mess with my weekends, but it is just for a short time. Ironically, those weekends are the Underground Market (where Andy is selling his oil), the Synagogue retreat ( I am going with the kids....), and I think the Maker's Fair where Andy has a booth for showing how to make oil and perhaps selling oil presses. I will take it easy, but also hope to support Andy through all of this. Yes, life is crazy and I will take care of myself, I promise. I am actually getting much better at it. I hope you are too.
Since I wrote that last bit, I have changed the timing of my chemo. I am going on Mondays for the next couple of weeks. So that was yesterday. I started the new acupuncture regime today. To early to say anything. The Underground Market was really fun and we sold a bunch of the oil. We learned how to work smarter, not harder, by the end of the evening. So next time we will not be as frantic.
I will try to be more communicative but I feel like my life is a roller coaster and I know you all want to be on it with me, but it does not feel right to constantly jerk your collective chains. You know that I am sick. You know that my health fluctuates and that I am very very slowly getting worse, but there are times that I get better too. At least I am getting worse slowly. That is as good as it gets for me. In the mean time, I manage to have fun and get on with a bit of life.
love love
rebecca
1 comment:
Rebecca, I have been thinking about you a lot. I am so glad the lung mets have shrunk, and the liver ones not grown too much. It's great that you can stay on the same chemo, and just focus on the liver with alternative medicine. Getting worse slowly is nothing to sneer at. I have a feeling the lung ones will never be a serious problem. The liver ones, even if they eat 10% of function per about 1.5 years, won't cause you serious problems for another ten years. Plus advance isn't always continuous. There can be long periods of stability or regression. To me at least, this all sounds very hopeful. And even better is the way you guys live such full joyful lives. That is a real gift, and a rare one.
Much love,
d
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