Two down...

...four more to go!  Well, four plus a lifetime. 

Today is disconnect day (yee haw!) and I'm feeling it.  Nauseated, that is.  I'm on less anti-nausea drugs this go-around because the side effects are less on this treatment, but I think I need to bump it up a smidge.  It's not as bad as last time, but I think I can do better on some more drugs.  That's all I need, right?  More drugs.

So a couple of things to update you on since last time.  My doc let me know that, if all goes well, I'll do 6 rounds of treatment with the carboplatin, 5-FU, and Herceptin, then I'll just be on the Herceptin every three weeks forever.  Or until the cancer mutates, at which point we can try other HER2+ treatments.  Because my diagnosis is Unknown Primary (can't definitively diagnose something without a clear pathology report), I'm eligible for drugs not approved for stomach cancer.  Like drugs for HER2+ breast cancer, of which there are 4.  I mean, there is still a chance this is breast cancer.  We just don't know.  Maybe I should drape myself in pink and periwinkle.  Anyway, my doc said she's had patients on Herceptin only treatment for years.  YEARS!!!  Do you know how often the word YEARS is used in the stage 4 cancer world?  I'll tell you.  Not very often!  She almost made me cry.  Dr. Dotan has only ever made me cry happy tears.  For some reason I don't cry sad tears around her, just happy tears.

The second thing to let you know is on Saturday I woke up and the enlarged lymph nodes in my left groin were completely down.  Poof! Gone.  I couldn't believe it!  So this tells me two things:  1 - the treatment is most definitely working, and 2 - the majority of the enlarged nodes are from lymphedema and not cancer.  Both good things!  The lymphedema has so far resolved itself in my left leg, although I will still be mindful of it for a while so it doesn't come back. 

Ok, so I'm going to go vomit, I think.  If only.  It's that awful feeling of wanting to throw up but not being able to.  I don't think it would get rid of the nausea, so it's probably for the best anyway. 

And on that note - Happy holidays to all!  See you in the New Year!

xo,
Lisa