March 1, 2018 Health Update

The good news is IT’S ALL GREAT NEWS!  No, I’m not cured.  No, I’m not NED (no evidence of disease).  Don’t waste your time worrying about those things.  According to “my” oncologist at Dana-Farber, my brain MRI, CT scans of my chest and abdomen, EKG, and blood-work all look GREAT.  I won’t see the reports myself until next week for details, but GREAT will do.

Our morning started with a blood draw and IV at 6:30 AM at Dana- Farber. (Sent a pic of IV to our granddaughter in nursing school  who just successfully inserted her first IV) Then, after a brisk walk across the bridge, I had the brain MRI and the CT scans at Brigham and Women’s.  After those, it was a race back to Dana to the 10th floor for an EKG, vitals check, and appointment with the doctor and the clinical trial nurse. We finished all this at 9:55 AM. Record time I’d say, thanks to a new patient coordinator who booked my appointments overlapping one another.  Oops!  Everyone made it work just fine.

After the appointments we waited 45 minutes for my wonder drug Lorlatinib.  It is she who is in there day after day tracking down that nasty ROS1.  Lorlatinib is relentless in her work.  I am grateful to those who developed Lorlatinib.  With each drug developed we get closer to the time when lung cancer is managed as a chronic disease, until there is a cure.  I’m grateful to all the brave patients in the first trials of this and other drugs being developed for ROS1.

I continue to work on my part of the deal with Lorlatinib, keeping myself healthy.  This work includes: acupuncture for neuropathy, paleo diet for the nonstop weight gain (now stopped),  immune system support (advised by acupuncturist, approved by oncologist – some supplements were nixed by oncologist due to unknowns of drug interaction), and energy healing meditation/practices. Soon will be increased time outside.  It’s a full time job, staying healthy, but it’s paying off.  I’m not just alive, just surviving, I’m thriving, and feel well – all things considered.

So, after a whirlwind trip to the city (traveled there yesterday), we arrived home at 4:30 PM.  Dan does a lot of driving and waiting.  It can’t be easy.  We’re a team, he says.  He’s a wonderful man.  And now here we are, back to finding joy in the everyday every day with the family, three little dachshunds, and Dottie and Matilda, Nigerian Dwarf goats.