Tag Archives: lorlatinib

Part of the machine

Posted on February 23, 2021 | 10 comments

Although I am exceedingly grateful that I have had an actual response to this duo of drugs (binimetinib and lorlatinib), the side effect profile remains complicated.

Two drugs, neither easy, combined.

At the moment, the pustular acne is under control (and I have to say, I think pustular acne might be a stopping point for many). If I don’t go to the studio (not an option) my fingers are less likely to split. However I am struggling with some pretty severe insomnia and peripheral neuropathy–both the painful kind and numbing of my extremities. I am starting to stumble because of the lack of feeling in my feet and the other day it ran through my mind that perhaps it was time to get off this hamster wheel. For a spell. But as soon as I thought it, I also had this intense feeling that I would be letting people down.

How ridiculous, that. Firstly, this is my sixth phase I trial. Secondly, my first obligation is to self. You know, like on the airplane, where you are to put your oxygen mask on prior to assisting other passengers. And I am a cancer patient, not some sort of hero.

Per side effects, I haven’t even mentioned the high cholesterol, low iron, slowed speech and other cognitive changes that are secondary to treatment. And whereas the assumption is that TKI’s must be taken daily, do we really know if that’s true? We do not.

So let’s just say I’m mulling. Doing a bit of intensive risk/benefit analysis. Going for the long game but also not willing to suffer a whole heck of a lot more collateral damage in the meantime.

It’s a lot to ponder.

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Sigh of relief

Posted on September 16, 2020 | 10 comments

I had a zoom meeting with Dr. Jessica Lin and Dr. Alice Shaw today to go over my scans. And…despite the fact that I am feeling more symptomatic, everything looks relatively unchanged from the previous scan six weeks ago.

However, Alice assured me, I know my own body and she takes my assessment seriously. Bottom line, this likely represents slow progression—too subtle for scans that are spaced six weeks apart.

The plan is to wait two weeks for another infusion of DS1062-a. Ideally I would have at least one more infusion after that, but once again after four or five weeks rather than three in the interest of side effect management.

Then we would reassess. Of course, I always want to know what my future options are. I am happy to report that there are two, a virtual wealth. First, a MEK inhibitor paired with lorlatinib, a trial which is currently enrolling. However, Alice was even more enthusiastic about a trial which is at least three months away from the clinic; a SHP2 inhibitor and lorlatinib. Because I have three known secondary mutations, (G1202R, S1206F and G1269A) Alice feels my cancer is still primarily driven by ALK–the secondary mutations representing an effort to get around ALK inhibition. Hopefully a combo will cover enough bases.

I would characterize this as good news. I already knew my cancer was progressing but I am reassured that the progression is slow. And I like the sound of two options vs one. Better yet, should I have to begin with the MEK inhibitor/lorlatinib, it will not preclude my enrollment in the SHP2 trial.

So there you go. Business as usual. I still have cancer. But I also have options.

xo

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Just a little documentary

Posted on March 3, 2020 | 15 comments

I have now been in phase I clinical trials for two Pfizer drugs—crizotinib and lorlatinib (Xalkori and Lorbrena). A few weeks ago I travelled to La Jolla for a CNN produced documentary. Perks of this project included spending time with rock star researcher Ted Johnson as well as a tour of the Pfizer Labs. And of course anytime I get to see the sun setting over the Pacific ocean, that’s a plus as well.

As for the documentary, it speaks for itself. Give it a little gander. Pfizer, thanks for letting me represent. And for keeping me at this party.

xo

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Understanding the enemy

Posted on February 2, 2020 | 2 comments

‘When there is dust rising in a high column, it is the sign of chariots advancing; when the dust is low, and spread over a wide area, it betokens the approach of infantry. When it branches out in different directions, it shows that parties have been sent to collect firewood. A few clouds of dust moving to and fro signify that the army is encamping.’ Sun Tzu, The Art of War.

My enemy, despite heavy artillery (lorlatinib plus carboplatin and pemetrexed) continues to advance. Hence the need for another approach. On Tuesday I have yet another CT scan in preparation for the upcoming clinical trial–it will be interesting to see if the fact that I am feeling better is supported by radiographic evidence. Either way, I think it is time to surprise cancer, which has grown both in size and cockiness.

7.1 cm is not my friend. Nor is lymphangitic carcinomatosis.

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Sometimes I love me some drugs

Posted on December 29, 2019 | 4 comments

Not gonna lie. The unholy combo of lorlatinib, carboplatin, pemetrexed, MOVING has been kicking my ass. Oh yeah, and cancer. Two twelve hour one day drives to Toledo and back were not as restful as one might assume. My energy is shot, my skin is shit (long term side effects of lorlatinib not helped by the new stressors) and last night I fell to sleep just imagining that I was a baby held in some loving arms. Breast fed, not with a bottle–the route my hep fifties mom went 😉

Yep. I am spent. Second infusion is tomorrow and steroids came to my rescue today.

Nasty, nasty drug that one. Insomnia, constipation, rage. But also an unnatural sense of energy just when mine was flagging. And not one to waste an opportunity, I got a hell of a lot done today. This new little home of mine is looking just like that—a place that someone would like to come and stay awhile. Maybe hunker down a little.

Mañana mama.

xo

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Rattle and roll

Posted on December 16, 2019 | 7 comments

I was exhausted last night. Rightly so, I imagine.

As I lay in bed, I could feel the powerful impact of two different cytotoxic agents on all the various bits of me. Havoc was being wreaked, like some marauder in the garden.

I went with this garden imagery, the cancer in my lungs a persistent and deeply rooted weed. And I pictured it being torn asunder, plucked from the substrate of my flesh, shaken violently, bent, torn, limp, lifeless. Every last cell of it.

When I awakened this morning the sound in my lungs had changed in timbre. The crackle of leather had been replaced with something akin to a broken tea cup. Very fine bone china, rattling around.

Hmmm, I thought. This is an improvement. What was hidebound now feels looser, dryer, easier to dislodge.

Onward.

xo

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Up and over

Posted on December 15, 2019 | 7 comments

When titling my previous blog I had a verb in mind. An action verb.

Chemo is a wall. And–frankly–that is the point. What sucks for me hopefully sucks for my cancer as well. All those side effects are indicators that the poison is going about its nasty little business.

What I’d like to clarify is how I’m taking this. Not lying down.

This particular chemo combo is a small misery compared to what I have experienced in the past. Fifteen years ago I was given a doublet of cisplatin and taxotere. My then oncologist explained, in the bluntest terms possible, that he intended to bring me to the brink of death and then bring me back. All in the name of eradicating my cancer.

Well he was true to his word. That shit blew. And I’d start to feel the side effects before we even got home after infusion. I spent days riding out the storm in my lazy boy chair (dubbed the lazy girl). By the fourth cycle I didn’t have a hair or an ounce of extra fat on my body and I was coughing up what looked like coffee grounds.

Now that, my friends, was hell. And it gave me some perspective. A rocky baseline if you will. Added to the mix was the fact that seven weeks earlier I’d had a lower left lobectomy, not vats but rather the old fashioned way. Ribs spread, large incision. Brutal.

So this is, relatively speaking, a walk in the park. I do feel a tad crummy. But I am also going about my business. As I live alone that means walking the dog, shopping for groceries, cooking. And, because my life is in fact over the top crazy, moving.

Yes. Again. My current situation did not work out quite as I imagined. One of my closest friends understood that this had become a source of stress for me and as fate would have it, an apartment that was located directly across the street from her opened up.

It was now or never and given the possibility that I may feel worse rather than better in the future, it was a no-brainer.

So yeah. Rather than surfing the couch I have been loading and unloading boxes. Yet again. On Wednesday my friend Melinda has arranged for a moving company to take the furniture and the books. And yet another impossible task will have been accomplished. Under ridiculous yet necessary circumstances.

I share this all so that others understand that even though chemo is undeniably unpleasant, it is also doable. This is an important concept for those who have only been on targeted therapies, and who are loathe to consider chemo, because of its bad rap.

In my case, I have a clear and unwavering agenda. It’s this: I really want to live. And I am willing to scale a million walls in order to do so.

Who knows. Maybe chemo works better if you’re not laying on a couch. I kinda doubt anyone has done any research around physical activity post infusion.

Consider this a pilot study.

xo

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Scaling

Posted on December 13, 2019 | 10 comments

I have hit the wall that is week two. Massive fatigue. Rheumy eyes. Gums that weep, a mouth that feels like sandpaper. Nosebleeds.

Loose of bowel, I’ve lost five pounds. Neuropathy is both afoot and at hand.

Numb and bloody. Edges and corners raw. But alive.

Alive, alive, alive.

And happy about it.

I had the thought that this is what cancer reduces existence to. Gratitude even in misery. But then I rethought that thought. And this time it came out this is what cancer elevates existence to.

How fucking fantastic is that. This, my friends, is unconditional love. Life, so treasured, that even when it’s all a bit raggedy it remains sought after. Beloved. Adored. Precious.

Something worth fighting for.

xo

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Oh girl

Posted on December 6, 2019 | 10 comments

I think I got this.

I drove myself to and from the hospital yesterday. No problemo. Early morning breakfast with my daughter, and then an appointment with a neuro onc. Two weeks ago I started getting this very brief and yet excruciating pain on the top of my head. It lasts seconds, is intermittent and unpredictable in onset, but is always in the exact same place. And it stops me in my tracks.

My first thought was an unusual presentation of shingles. But given that I am a cancer patient one must always rule out other possibilities. My exam demonstrated decreased sensitivity on the left side of my body, top to bottom. My brain MRI’s have been positive for multi infarcts for some time now (little strokes) and a slightly larger stroke is a possibility. As is–the highly unlikely–scenario that I have a tumor or some other structural impingement. This finding is seemingly unrelated to the pain on top of my head which could be trigeminal neuralgia or maybe even just some weird neuropathy. At any rate, I’ve not had a brain MRI for a good long time now and so one is scheduled for the 19th, when I receive my next chest CT scan. This will necessarily be with contrast, but evidently better contrast than before.

After that I was joined by my friend Jenny Ro, who you’ll hear more about later. I met her while I was preparing for my TED talk and we just immediately clicked. She was gracious enough to offer to be my chemo buddy yesterday. My son Peter joined us for a couple of hours as well, lending an almost festive feel to the affair.

First up was scan review, and it was as I expected. Overall progression. Not rampant but persistent. Alice said she was glad we’d decided to begin treatment.

And then, up to the eighth floor and infusion, where I was immediately recognized by a phlebotomist. That’s what happens when you’re a lifer. Some saline, ten minutes of carboplatin, more saline and then thirty minutes of pemetrexed. In and out.

It was necessary to stop at the pharmacy as I was out of ativan and needed some scrips for anti emetics as well. And some tortilla chips to go with the guac I’d stocked up on the day before. That, some cut fruit, and turmeric milk all went down nicely.

I slept like a baby, waking once in a cold sweat with tears all over my face. No idea why.

Today I am feeling a little bit more like I’ve been run over by a truck, but again, all manageable. Alice texted me and I said that if I continue to feel ok, then next time I’d like to consider ramping up the carbo dose. Of course, I have a scan prior to that, so if it’s not doing anything, I suppose there is no point. But my fervent hope is that it is.

This girl. This girl wants to live.

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Action plan

Posted on November 14, 2019 | 18 comments

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.

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