Treatment and Ticks

Dear Bloggees,

It occurred to me me that I haven't provided much news lately about my treatment plan or progress. I will do that today since I know many of you are kind enough to be interested.

Every two weeks I receive an infusion of two chemotherapy drugs called Adriamycin and Cytoxan (AC). I have completed three rounds of this therapy. My last is this Monday. Two weeks later I begin a weekly schedule of infusions of two different drugs, Taxol and Herceptin (TH). I will follow this regimen for twelve weeks. That will bring me to mid-July. About two or three weeks later I will start a six-week, daily schedule of radiation treatments. That will take me through mid-September. I will continue to receive an infusion of Herceptin once every three weeks for the rest of the year. Add PT twice a week, and that's a lot of freakin' medical appointments. No wonder cancer patients are exhausted.

As I have mentioned, the side effects of the AC have been pretty tolerable. Two or three days of the first week following the AC infusion I feel kind of queasy and head achy. The rest of the time I feel pretty close to normal. I am told that the TH drill is even a bit easier. I hope that my relative tolerance for this poison isn't an indication that it isn't working. I am so afraid of those evil little cancer cells that are lurking behind my vital organs waiting to attack as soon as the exterminators stop flooding my system with poison.

The radiation component of the treatment plan was just decided this week. It was uncertain whether I was an appropriate candidate for radiation because my particular disease profile didn't quite meet all of the criteria that ordinarily justifies it. However, after the radiation oncologist and his resident explained all of the reasons why radiation was justified in my case, I was ready to double the chemo schedule, add in simultaneous radiation treatments and then jump off a cliff. The conversation was a frightening reminder of the aggressive nature of my enemy.

I've wondered a couple of times in this place at my relative optimism about the likelihood of my surviving this disease. On closer analysis, I've decided that I feel optimistic, but think pessimistic. I can't stop imagining that future conversation with my oncologist when he says, "it's back." It will be hard to feel optimistic after that.

In other news, last week I was bitten by a tick. This is at least the fourth time I have battled with our thriving tick community. You cannot walk to the edge of our yard without picking up at least 2 or 3 ticks. If I had a penny for every tick my husband and I have picked off ourselves, each other and our dogs, I would probably spend less time monitoring my "monetization" (Blogger's word, not mine) of this blog. (I've earned $5.46.)

Not all of our bugs are deer ticks, but many of them are. Twice I've been diagnosed with Lyme disease. After this week's bite, I was very discouraged by the prospect of adding another nuclear powered drug (the antibiotic they usually give to prevent Lyme) to the chemo cocktail. Fortunately, it turned out I was spared the antibiotic. That made me happy. Other stuff is making me happy this week. I feel pretty good. Our kitchen shelves are filled with gorgeous jars of golden honey recently harvested by my husband from his bee hives. Our daffodils are in full bloom. The blue birds are darting about their houses. And, no matter how pessimistically I think, I know I will be around next year to enjoy it all again.