I hope you all had a great holiday season! It was hectic here in the Delaney house. We had something to do pretty much every day, and it took its toll on Kat. She missed her first day back to school with a fever. We all seem to have colds in the house, but Kat got it the worst. Of course she's hopping up and down now and I'm going nuts with her in the house another day. She'll be good to go back tomorrow for sure. Thank God. Many of her friends seem to have been bitten as well, so we're hoping for a speedy recovery for all!
So what's new? Well, in the treatment world, what did I last leave you with? Ah yes, we were doing one more treatment and then seeing if it made a difference in the lungs. Well, it did not. My lungs have gotten progressively worse since I last blogged. I went in for a tap and was told there wasn't enough fluid to tap, yet I still can't breathe well. My doc called me in the next day and we agreed the lung issues are probably related to the cancer, which has taken root in my lymph vessels in my lungs. Since the surgery stopped the fluid accumulation, it has nowhere else to go. A backfire no one saw coming. Of course this is all speculation, since the only way to verify is through a biopsy, and no one sees the need for that. We all know I have cancer. So my doc called a pulmonary oncologist I had seen months ago to consult, and he recommended a lung capacity test and a trip to the cardiologist to make sure my heart is ok. Two days and several tests later, my lung capacity is greatly reduced (I saw 40% on one sheet but I have to admit, I didn't get a good look at the results entirely, so that might just be for one test) and my heart is healthy except it is working extra hard to try and pump blood into the lungs, which are being blocked by the cancer. Stupid cancer. It's a combination of all those things that is causing my shortness of breath. Oh, and a distended belly, which no one can give me a solid answer for. The cardiologist said it's probably related to the heart. It's a good look. Comfortable too.
So Dr. Haber, the pulmonary doc, increased my steroids to see if it would help. It has not. It has just made me puffy, which again, is a good look. I saw him again last Friday and he said I could taper off the roids, since there is no point to them if they aren't doing anything. I had already started doing that (shhhh), but I think I'm going to hold firm at the dose I am until after treatment on Wednesday.
Ah yes, treatment. So I spoke with Dr. Dotan last week and the results of the biological testing came in. Turns out my tumor (and in my case tumor means cancer cells floating around, not necessarily a lump) looks like it'll respond to a HER2+ drug called T-DM1, brand name Kadcyla, even though the tumor isn't HER2+. I'm anxious to see the rest of the report, but anyway, it's another treatment option and we've decided to give it a go before a clinical trial, since the trial is a toxicity trial and Kadcyla is a standard treatment. I have high hopes for this drug. I've read up on it and it seems to work really, really well in some people. Up to 3 years in some. That would be a God-send, but really, I'd like to get just as long as possible out of it. To have it work for a while and get rid of these lung issues would be amazing. You have no idea what it is like not to be able to breathe well until you can't. Lung infections just don't compare. Of course, when you feel fine in every other way, it's that much more frustrating. Stupid cancer.
Ok, so one final thing. I embarked on a 2 week raw food diet today, but I think I'm changing it already. I've done a lot of research on raw foods and you have to do more than fruits and veggies. You have to do nuts, seeds, oats, etc., to feel full. Those latter things bring about a risk of bacteria that I didn't really think of when I decided to do this, so I think I'm going to modify it to a few days raw followed by the remaining 2 weeks vegan. Then I'll ease into a whole foods dietary approach. No dairy, limited meats, non-processed foods. The goal is to stop depending on so many processed foods and start eating real, as Mother Nature intended it, food. No dairy though. I just feel better without it. I also understand that I'm only human and I will slip up occasionally. That's ok. The point is to be healthy. One slip up here and there is not going to hurt (as long as it's here and there!).
So if I seem a bit grumpy the next few days, please forgive me. I did some serious binge eating over the holidays and I need a big-time sugar detox. I'm heavily addicted. It's sad. Right now I'm trying to figure out how to get chocolate into my diet without sacrificing the raw aspect. I have no cacao. It's a problem. I've put bananas into the freezer so I can make banana whips tonight, and I'm thinking of juicing some pineapple to try and recreate a Dole Whip (Google it). It's seriously that bad. Although really, Dole Whips. Yum.
Ok, I'm out of here before I go off on a tangent. I'll keep you all posted on the treatment, per usual.
Happy 2015 to all!
xo, Lisa
