First Dose (again)

(5/13/09)

Well, it turns out that Dr. J and I were thinking along similar lines. The tradeoffs were these:

- Do chemo first and risk the tumors growing and becoming too unwieldy for radiation to handle

- Do radiation to the lungs first and risk having disease pop up somewhere else in the body

Solution: do both at the same time!

But of course, so simple! So that's the plan right now, to wipe out the disease in the lungs and clear it out everywhere else, too, at the same time. We'll probably switch up the chemo drugs after radiation is done, too, so we can keep the cancer from becoming resistant. 

It sucks of course, but so far this treatment is looking a lot easier to handle. I have daily cytoxan by mouth for 28 days, and on days 1, 8, and 15, I get a 10-minute push (injection) of navelbine (vinorelbine). Hopefully aside from losing my hair, I won't have too many side effects. Starting Friday I'll go in for radiation therapy every day for 15-20 minutes for 10 days. The radiation will target both of my whole lungs with a larger dose going to the two nodules. 

Getting on a path to solving the problem always makes one feel better, although at this point I'm starting to get good at dealing with uncertainty. . . 

As a parting note for this post, I have to give a shout out to one of my personal heroes, Steve, who is battling Ewing's Sarcoma and just came out of a really rough couple of weeks. He and his wife Ann are such a strong, upbeat couple, and their positive strength is incredibly infectious. Steve, you're a freakin' champion!! Ann, you're incredible, too!