Whooo-whooooo!

Well, we have boarded the next train in cancer treatment!

Had a great talk with my Doc with Gerry there, and decided that we would change the course of treatment.  Silly me, I thought you could march into Walgreens and pick it up.  Ha!

Tykerb and Xeloda.  The wonderful pharmacist at Walgreens directed me to the Apothecary Shop and I was able to get both scripts on Friday afternoon.  Tykerb comes only in 250mg size, and I am taking 1250mg at a time, so do the math, 5 large orange pills first thing in the morning with no food in my stomach.

Wait an hour, eat my breakfast, take three large peach colored Xeloda pills.  Repeat the Xeloda 12 hours later, always with food.  I've read through all the side effects.  Sounds just like the disclaimers for every drug advertised on the television these days, so we'll wait and see.  The Doc started me with a more moderate dose to see how I do, and he will step it up if I tolerate it all.

I take the Tykerb every day, and the Xeloda (for now) I take for 14 days, then 7 days off, then start over.  I'll repeate the whole regimen 6 or 8 times.  It's really just oral chemo.  I'm happy I don't have to go sit in the chemo room for it.  But I will see the Doc every 3 weeks.

The cancer is slow, Doc called it 'indolent'.  It's mostly my lungs right now, the left lobe in particular.  Still very very small.  The activity in them is increasing however, and that's what we hope to nip in the bud.  It's a good regimen; many of the other breast cancer metsters have been on this and seen the tumors disappear, so that's what we're hoping for!  Yay!

The Doc pretty much said that what we're doing is like buying time.  And with enough time they'll find something to cure this or knock it out completely, or at least turn it into a chronic disease, one I can live with until I die from something else.  (I'm paraphrasing.)  I can live with that.

In other news, I'm having a blast with a bracelet I'm making right now.  Beautiful dichroic cabachons and all sorts of sparkly beads.  I sold 5 bracelets last week, which is so heartening.  Having fun, relaxing, laughing.

Still Alive!