My LMS adventure

The last time I was waiting for Tumor Board results, there were a lot of cases and mine was pushed to the next week. I didn't hear from my oncologist yesterday, so I'll assume no news is no news. I'm getting a lot done in the meanwhile. Lots of sleep, lots of puttering around. Straightening up some areas of the house that need help. I'm working frantically on a knitting project. It is complicated, and I suspect the chemo will mess with my ability to do complicated patterns. And I wait. One advantage of knitting is that I can see the passage of time. Eight minutes each row.... Just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I've made a list of foods that worked before, and a daily list, so I keep doing at least the minimum. I'm caught up on laundry, need to run the vacuum cleaner. Just those things you want to do when you'll be out of it for several months. Meanwhile, my fantasy has been painting the house. It's a manufactured home, wit...

I had a CT/PET scan last week. This will show if the hormone inhibitor therapy is working. Today I get results. When I need to wait, I fill my time. Otherwise, I start thinking, and wondering, and worrying. I've gotten a lot of knitting done, I've taken care of a neighbor's cats. I've gathered lots for the rummage sale. Later today, I'll have results, and I'll add to and publish this post. You won't have to wait. Later that same day.... Well, the new therapy isn't killing the cancer effectively. The liver lesion is getting bigger; there are more lung lesions that there were. The lymph nodes in my neck are lighting up. Damn. My oncologist is presenting the case to the tumor board next Monday.... They may recommend chemotherapy (Doxytocin sp?) a single med, every three or four weeks. Another option is to stay on the hormone inhibition therapy, if it is slowing the growth, just not stopping it as we had hoped. I'm off to do research...

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/12/health/cancer-blindside/index.html The entire article is below. I don't want it to disappear into the Internet graveyard. I wish I had read this article when I was first diagnosed. Here is my experience on each of the main points: Take a breath. I was lucky, diagnosed when I was off work due to the surgery. Shortly after my diagnosis a friend (since Jr. High School) came to visit. I was able to just blurt out everything I was thinking. It was a tremendous help to have someone who listened. We also had wonderful conversations about when we were young, which was a lovely distraction. Because I was away from the stress of my workplace, I was able to take a deep breath. Own your cancer. I remember accepting the diagnosis fairly quickly. But I had trouble with the mets. I was convinced that the liver lesions were due to my use of NSAIDs for my arthritis. Frequently I stepped back and used my professional skills (My degree and credentia...