I had an oncology appointment in Boston today and met one of the new members of my team. Alice will remain my oncologist, but her role will necessarily be more limited than before. I told this new doctor that I felt my cancer was now in my right lung as well–I can both feel and hear it (wheezing/crackling). She took a listen with the stethoscope and confirmed.
So those horses are not only out of the barn–they are moving to another pasture.
Obviously that’s not a good thing. It’s a damn shame that lungs are an essential organ, but it is what it is. And what it is, is that it’s getting harder to breathe.
Time to spring into action. Given the fact that I have some upcoming big plans (a panel at Takeda, my TED talk, birthday, Thanksgiving) we are holding off until December. Scans on the 2nd, first infusion on the 5th.
Originally the plan was to add carboplatin and avastin to lorlatinib. However I have already had four rounds of carbo as well as four rounds of cisplatin. A lot of platinum for one girl. My peripheral neuropathy is rather severe, particularly in my feet. On various occasions I have walked around unaware that I had cardboard liners, stones, or wet socks in my shoes. The bottom of my feet are almost totally numb, and although I have adapted to this unsettling scenario (only an occasional stumble) we certainly don’t want it to get worse.
So Alice felt carbo was not the best bet, and that perhaps we should go with pemetrexed instead. We were going to add avastin, in the hope of hitting the cancer with a bigger hammer. However, I have been coughing up some blood and also have had small abrasions become larger wounds that were loathe to heal–both indicators that I might be at greater risk for bleeding in my lungs secondary to avastin.
There is a distinct possibility (and a big, big hope) that chemotherapy will have a synergistic effect with both lorlatinib and binimetinib–the drug I would receive in conjunction with lorlatinib in the next clinical trial I shall enroll in. Given that, I want to make certain our approach is not tepid. As avastin has been ruled out, I asked that carbo be added back in–but at a lower dose. If I tolerate the first round, we will continue. If not, then it will simply be pemetrexed.
I had a vitamin B12 shot today and will begin taking folic acid in preparation for infusion. I am ready but also understandably leery. This will be the first time that I have undergone chemo while living alone. That in itself should be a bit of an adventure. However, I think I know what to expect.
And I am ready to launch an attack.
life and breath: outliving lung cancer 