My Saga

[Velcrocat]

The results are in and not good. I seems I have extensive liver mets. We are looking at chemo. I will know more when I see the head of the oncology department. We are trying to get that appointment as soon as possible, maybe even next week. I want to start treatment as soon as possible. I don't want to delay at all. The sooner treatment begins the better.

I asked about liver biopsy but with so many mets (too many to count) there doesn't seem to be any point.

I asked about a PET scan, that is an out of pocket expense and means travel to the US. Not an option for me.

I asked about surgery but with so many mets, how can we be sure to get them all and still leave me with a liver?

I did tell her the nausea has been ongoing since I started the aromasin. It gets no better nor worse, just stays the same, there all the time.

Radiation for bone mets is an option but will wait on that until I know what else I am facing. I may be able to do that after chemo.

The hydromorph contin is back in place with a dose right now of 9mg twice a day, along with maxeran to control the nausea. If the maxeran doesn't work I am looking at taking zofran long term.

All I can say right now is I am angry and saddened by what I learned today. I will be talking with my SIL and letting her know what is happening. My children will not be told until I know what the treatment plan is. Until then I will keep things pretty close to my heart.

Thanks for all your prayers and support. Love Lana.

[Velcrocat]

It looks like I will be taking xeloda for 2 weeks on and one week off. Now to figure out the side effects and what to do for them. I understand mouth sores, diarrhea, and hand and foot syndrome are the major one,
Any others I should be aware of? I will be getting blood work done tomorrow and the onc wants tumour markers to monitor the progress on the liver mets, getting smaller or larger. He said the liver pain I have had for the past few days is good pain (if you can call pain good) because it means the cells in the liver mets are dying and therefore causing an inflammatory response and the liver capsule is reacting to the inflammation.

[Velcrocat]

While it has been some time since I have been here. I have had some interesting developments. My blood pressure is now hovering around 85-90/60. This means I definitely take it easy standing up. I don't know why the BP is down.

I have some swelling in the right lower leg which cannot be explained. The DR has tested twice for DVT (blood clots) but both times the tests came back clear. Therefore we still don't know why the swelling. I think it may be a side effect of either the chemo or the hormone blocker.

I am trying to get into see both a massage therapist and Occupational therapy (OT) to get some kind of support stockings to try to bring the swelling down. At this point I'll try just about anything. I have had to take medical leave from my job because of the swelling. Elevating the leg doesn't really make any difference.

Too many unknowns in my life right now.

Mind you I am not having any real reactions to the chemo (Xeloda) or the bisphosphonate (Aredia), which is a good thing.

All that to say I am still hanging in there no matter what.

[Velcrocat]

It has been a while since I was here but then I figured the chemo I was taking was supposed to be doing something toward shrinking/killing cancer cells. It turns out that the opposite is true. While it may have been working on cancer cells in other parts of my body the cancer cells in the liver were not being affected by it in any way. The lesions continued to grow and there are more of them. I am hoping this new chemo will make a difference and not just make me nauseous.

I have found in the past couple of days I have started to feel better. Four days of nausea is more than enough. Even with the antinausea meds I was still feeling ill. For the first couple of days all I had for food if you can call it food is chicken broth or chicken noodle without the noodles. I find today I have some side/stomach/bowel pain. This could be due to eating too much after taking it really easy with the nausea or it could be from eating too high carb. Bland/carb foods were feeling good on the tummy but now I think it is time to go back to the WOE that feels the best for me. I will still be eating smaller meals and see if that helps any.

The metallic taste in my mouth is the most disconcerting thing right now. Nothing seems to take it away and therefore foods don't always taste appetising.