Every Day Brings New Things

Alright…. so I admit, I don’t post many updates these days…. mostly because there’s nothing new to say. Things have been staying the same for days at a time, but then you have a day like today.

This morning was supposed to be a chemo day. But with the last cycle the way it was, Christy and I decided it was a better plan to visit with family in Massachusetts for an extended weekend instead. So we booked a B&B on Nantasket Beach (South Shore of Boston) and plan to meet up with my family, sort through a few things from my Dad’s estate, eat some fresh seafood, and weather permitting, take a ride on my sister’s lobster boat out of Cohasset harbor (where I grew up) and stroll the beaches for a few days.

Back to this morning… Instead of chemo, they called me in for a “quick” blood test. The results were somewhat disturbing. My platelets have fallen into the 40’s again, but of more concern was the D-Dimer results which had apparently tripled since last week. Simply speaking, D-Dimer tests help the doctor know if you have new blood clots forming anywhere. The elevated amounts triggered a STAT ultrasound exam at our local hospital today to check veins in my legs and arms. This past January, they found a clot in my right leg. Today they confirmed that the blood thinners I’m taking haven’t  fixed it (still there), and two more clots in two more veins had formed near the same area. There’s a fair amount of concern that the new ones are positioned where they could more easily end up drifting into my lungs, which of course would be bad news indeed. So they held me at the hospital until my doctor released me back to home with an increased dose of blood thinner meds and a script for a follow-up CT scan tomorrow to check lungs and tumor status.

All in all, it was a bit of a bummer day. But… we learn to take it in stride, and just keep living our lives as full as possible. That is something we are indeed enjoying. Since returning from Paris, we’ve put a new swing & grill in the back yard, planted our annual garden, been out to eat a bit, done some home improvements, listened to live jazz at a festival in Allentown, and now we have this beach trip planned. Despite the fact that I’m not testing very well right now, we are still finding something to enjoy in each day.

So tonight (Tuesday) they run a tumor marker test from today’s blood draw, tomorrow (Wednesday) is the CT scan, and on Thursday I have another appointment set up to go over all the results.

One more thing. I did have a very constructive conversation with my oncologist about modifying (doing it less frequently) or ending chemotherapy. In my mind, I’ve decided that quality of life is better without it. It is such a drain on energy and emotions, and has no promise of cure. Dr. Anna understands and was quite sympathetic. She also believes that the increased clotting may be affecting my ability to tolerate treatment, especially if they find that small particles are indeed getting into my lungs. So this is a conversation still in the works. We’ll look at all the test results later in the week, pray, stroll the beach this weekend, and then make a decision.

Thanks for all your prayer!

Sandy.