On Tuesday, 8/26/2014 I received the most wonderful news from my oncologist! Other than the evolving changes in the right sided lung nodule that was cyberknifed, I had no activity/findings on my PET & CT scans! I had a hard time believing this wonderful news, so I wanted confirmation. I waited until today when I saw the Radiation Oncologist at Stanford. He not only confirmed that I have no clinical evidence of disease (NED), but that the slight uptake on the PET scan at the cyberknife tumor site is consistent with scar tissue. It is no longer a tumor. I currently have no evidence of any tumors! Yah Hoo!!!
So, what does this mean? On Tuesday 8/26 I received my last round of Folfiri (Irinitican+5FU) with Avastin. I will change to maintenance chemo in two weeks. I will continue maintenance chemo due to the high risk for recurrence in stage IV colon cancer. Maintenance chemo will have me going in for a 30 minute infusions of Avastin every 3 weeks, plus twice a day pills (oral form of 5FU) called Xeloda for two weeks followed by a one week break of no chemo. Then start the 3 week cycle over again. I will continue with every 3 month scans for a while. This will be a huge change for me! The Xeloda comes with it's own set of side effects (primarily nausea/GI stuff, fatigue, mouth sores, and hand/foot syndrome), however this is so much better than my previous regime! I am happy to experience NO MORE 5+ hour infusions every two weeks, NO MORE chemo ball/pump for two days, NO MORE steroids keeping me up on infusion days, NO MORE Irinitican causing a drop in my white blood cell count, NO MORE painful Neupagen injections to boost my white count, and most importantly a recovery of some of my energy and immune system! :-))) I am excited & nervous for the change, but mostly thrilled to experience improved health & more control of my life!!!
I am so happy and feel so very blessed to receive the best news I have had since my diagnosis in April 2013. Thank you to my friends & family for all for your support thus far in my journey to health ❤️. I could not have reached this milestone without you!
Hugs, Jacki ❤️
Jacki: this is wonderful news. Thanks for sharing this with all of us who have been following your progress and your blog, and praying for your good health. So happy for you and your family.
ReplyDeleteI just reread your post again! It is such good news, and you must take some credit. You worked really hard to make sure all the medical treatments were supported with great nutrition, exercise and, most of all, an amazingly positive attitude!
ReplyDeleteKaren