Due to some scheduling issues, Marye had her chemo on Tuesday of this week, instead of the usual Thursday. Of course, late into the chemo cycle she was feeling pretty good, and not even needing her usual afternoon nap. That's all changed now. She had her therapy on Tuesday, the Neulasta shot on Wednesday, and is now suffering the usual achy bones and minor upset stomach. All in all, though, she's not too bad off. Actually, she's really not feeling well, but no worse than usual right after her treatment.
The real update this week comes from our conversation with the doctor. Apparently, the cancer has plateaued, or stabilized. The tumor markers from three weeks ago were split (one went up, the other down); and with the small change in the tumor from the CT scan last month, it doesn't seem to be doing much. While this is certainly not the great news that we're used to about the cancer dramatically shrinking, Dr. Riley assures us that this is normal, and we are just happy that it's not growing. Again, when cancer metastasizes, the best they expect to do is just to stabilize it and manage the side-effects of the chemo.
When asked if this is the typical life-cycle of the particular chemo drug that Marye is on, the oncologist really begged off. There is just no "typical" way these things go. At some point in time, there will be definite growth in the tumor, and we'll have to go to another drug. But that could be months or even years away. For now, there is no further metastases, Marye is having a decent quality of life, and she's handling the chemo well. So that's it. We just settle into this rhythm for a while.
The thing that struck me about this development was that I was used to seeing good results from the chemo. The original tumor marker numbers were over 1450 and eventually went down to 150 before she had to get off chemo in January. Then they climbed back up, but dropped again once she started chemo again in March. So, now they're stable. I look at it like a really heavy person starting a diet and exercise program. When you weigh 600 lbs., that first hundred is really easy to lose. Just get up and walk around and switch to diet soda. But after that, it takes a lot of actual work. That's where we are, I guess.
Anyway, it looks like we'll have a relatively quiet period here for a while, and that's a good thing. She's got chemo in another three weeks, so if you don't hear from me before then, all is well.
-Chris
