Trial Drug Updates!

So I'm playing catch up so I can restart with updates (triweekly, weekly, daily?) and decided to just give you a brief recap of what's been going on.

In February 2018, after being on two different treatments for about 2 years, I was approached by my oncologist and an Advanced Clinical Trials Specialist about a trial drug specifically for the type I have. Nothing really changed in ways of when I would have treatments. I would still be doing treatments every three weeks. What changed was because it was a trial drug, I would have to do more blood work (labs), CT Scans, as well as eye exam, Echos, and EKGs. The main thing was the timeframes and dealing with new side effects.

In December 2019, I received a new Advanced Clinical Trials Specialist. I have to admit I enjoyed my new Specialist because I felt like I had my own personal scheduler. He would schedule all my exams and Labs and work with the Cancer Center for the treatment. I was able to reach out to him any time and kept in the loop anytime I noticed something new or felt something different.

Over the last 3 years, my CT scans have shown progress and a continous showing of NED (no evidence of disease) meaning I am remission.

"Did this mean I was cured or that I could stop chemotherapy?" Oh how I wish this would have been the case, but truthfully, the answer was No. The drug was managing to stop the cancer cells from being active and it targeted the tumor in my breast so it shrunk. Since there is no cure yet, the risk of the tumor returning in the same area or a new area was still present and the risk of cells becoming active could happen any time. So the best thing to do was to continue treatment every three weeks.

So here I am on August 18, 2021, living each day and still fighting. I had my treatment day today and doing good still. I wish I could say life is easy and hardly having any side effects, but I can not. Usually I feel nauseous and have no appetite, due to no flavor, for about five days before starting to feel more like myself.

Since I usually am at the center for 4 hours on treatment days, I plan to post more. In the meantime, live your life with joy and hope. Hope is what keeps me going and helps me to continue to have joy and make memories.

JAMMHope!