Have I Ever Mentioned How Much I Hate Cancer?
We were at Mayo September 12th and 13th to see how Mike is doing on his 1/2 dose of Retevmo and everything started out great with perfect bloodwork but then things went downhill. Next up was his CT scan with IV contrast (to be able to see things better) and the results popped up in Mikes portal before his next appointment and they were NOT what we expected! Their impression stated that there are multiple irregular part solid nodules in the right lung which have not significantly changed but, there is a new solid 2mm solid nodule in the left lower lobe… what!?! Not what we expected. Next up was a brain MRI with IV contrast and we were hoping that the previous 3 metastases in Mikes brain continued to shrink. The results however, came through on his portal while we were driving home and once again they were not what we expected. One of the previous nodules was stable but the other two grew and one almost doubled in size to 8mm and… there is an additional small 2 mm nodule in the medial left parietal lobe. Their impression reads: “Findings concerning for mild progression of cerebral metastases.” Have I ever mentioned how much I hate cancer!?!?! HATE is a strong word but it fits the situation!!! We had three of our grandkids overnight while their parents were at a Ford meeting so that was a nice distraction but, the next morning after getting them off to school we drove back up to Rochester to meet with Mikes Oncologist Dr. Molina. He was not overly concerned with the CT scan and said that the newly discovered nodule in the left lung could have always been there and the machine did a better job of detecting it. He was however, concerned about the new brain nodule and the growth of the others. We discussed options which included increasing the dosage of the Retevmo/selpercatanib to double what Mike is on now and doing blood work every two weeks to check liver enzymes, then a repeat brain MRI in 8 weeks to see if the increase dose crosses the blood brain barrier better and shrinks the nodules. The other option would be to do Cyber-knife radiation where they would fit him with a helmet that has tiny holes in it and it would be screwed on😳😩 and the nodules would be zapped/radiated. We chose to go with the increase dosage of his medication.
I can’t say that we haven’t been on a rollercoaster ride of emotions because we definitely have but, like Mike said after reading his results “I could get mad but, what good would that do for anyone”. Don’t get me wrong there are times when we get mad or sad but we don’t stay there, we have our moment and then we move on, we let go, we live! I’ve said it before and I will say it again, “ LIVE your life”! Don’t just go through the motions to get through the day but truly enjoy the big things and the little things too. Nobody knows how much time they have left or what the future holds, especially in this seemingly upside down world we live in, so go out and make the most of it! I am talking to myself here too because I get stuck down rabbit holes looking at crazy stuff that is going on in the world but then I remind myself that the God that created this place we call home has the answers, He knows best and me worrying about things that may or may not happen is a waste of precious time!
Thank you for taking the time to read this post and thank you for praying with us for health and healing. We are believing that this increase in dosage will not affect Mikes liver and that it crosses the blood brain barrier and shrinks the brain nodules as well as the lung ones, and we are believing that the increase dosage won’t cause any other side effects.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ❤️🙏🏼🙌🏼
#cancer #stage4lungcancer #cancersucks #ihatecancer #mikeymo #beblessed #targetedtreatment #retevmo #mayo #nsclc #cancersurvivor #cancerthriver #brainmets
Be blessed,
Paula