3.17.2010

A Beautiful Day!

As weather goes, today was about as good as it gets! The warm spring sunshine was such a welcome change from the long string of rainy days we have had. It is always hard to feel sad on such a pretty day, so I always appreciate a beautiful day when I receive 'not so good' news.

This post may contain more information than you want, but people are always asking how I am and I'm never really quite sure how to respond. My main reason for starting this blog is so you can read as much (or as little) about what is going on as you would like. So, here we go...

As most of you know, I have cancer. It started in 2003 and came back in 2008. When you are diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, you know that you are pretty much stuck with it. So I've known for quite a while that for as long as I live I will have breast cancer. In January the hormone drug I was taking each day stopped working. My doctor switched me to a new drug and I had a set of scans (meaning a CT scan of the chest, abdomen and pelvis with contrast, and a nuclear medicine bone scan) last week to see how it is working. Today I found out that there is increased growth in the legion on my pelvis and the CT scan picked up a large lymph node under my left arm and another one within my chest cavity. Also, throughout my cancer treatment they have been monitoring a tumor marker that is shown through blood work. It is called CA27/29 and over the years it will elevate when my cancer is out of control and come down to a normal range when the scans show my cancer is 'stable.' Right now, my CA 27/29 is elevated.

What does it all mean? Well, for now I'm staying on the second daily drug, an aromatase inhibitor which blocks estrogen. (From my initial surgery, it was determined that Estrogen drives my kind of cancer.) I will have blood work done in a month to check the CA27/29 and see my doctor in two months. Oh and also in two months I will get my Zometa drip which is a drug that helps strengthen bone. Meanwhile, I have to try to monitor my pain levels and keep a check on the one lymph node under my arm that I can feel.

So, that is my report. Traffic was terrible in Baltimore today. Trent had a great day in school, Ian had a lot of fun playing with Memaw and Pepaw, and Brad helped me make 50 celery 'ants on a log' snacks for tomorrow.

Yes, I'm thankful it was a beautiful day!

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