Chemo. Round 2. Week Three. Monday.
I had my scheduled labs and visit with Dr. Robinson this morning. Here's what I learned.
1. Dr. Robinson has been in communication with Dr. Rossi.
2. My ANC is a bit low, but looking at past trends, the Zimmer team believes it will be high enough by next week for me to have chemo on Monday, May 18.
4. The only thing concerning with the blood work was liver function. Last week's results were not an anomaly. I do have impaired liver function, with Alkaline Phosphatase trending up further (335 U/L) since last week while ALT and AST, though elevated, remained consistent.
5. My RBC and WBC are low, but not critically so.
And there's one more thing. I stumbled getting onto the scale this morning, and the nurse saw it. I hadn't really thought about it, but I stumbled twice last week, once when turning to the side and once when looking up. As this became a topic of conversation at the doctor's office this morning, I had to admit I've stumbled quite a few times recently. Why is this? To be safe, Dr. Robinson has ordered an MRI of my head. The MRI has been scheduled for May 28 at 5:45 pm.
I had a telehealth visit with Dr. Rossi this afternoon. It’s been a while since we spoke, and I realized how much I have missed her. Some hightlights of our discussion:
I affirmed to her that the enlarged lymph node noted on the recent CT is getting smaller. She would like to make the same assumption about the rest of the disease we saw on the scan.
She agreed with Dr. Robinson in that it is unlikely the metastasized cancer is compromising my liver function. But the question is: What is having this effect? She will have Dr. Zani take another look at the scan and offer his insight. Further, Taxol is metabolized by the liver, so Dr. Rossi will talk to the clinical pharmacist at Duke to see if she can offer any insight.
Dr. Hillman, Dr. Rossi and Dr. Robinson all agree. As long as we’re seeing response and my body can tolerate chemotherapy, we should continue getting this systemic therapy into my body as it’s the best way to combat widespread metastasis.
If I need further intervention, immunotherapy might be our next option, though it might prove difficult to get it approved by insurance, but we will deal with that when the time comes.
Dr. Rossi wants me to complete a minimum of 6 cycles, and she wants me to be open to the idea of more cycles if we’re seeing success on scans but after 6 cycles there is still cancer.
In other news . . . Dr. Rossi noticed my hair while we were on the call. And yes! My hair is still holding on! Dr. Rossi said, “You’re a case study!”
It’s hard to just let my hair be and not wash it often and not style it at all, but (so far) the tradeoff has been worth it. I am thankful.
The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made.
Psalm 145:13
