Hello to my Family and Friends,

Good news!  GOD HAS BEEN SOOOOO GOOD TO ME! 

"Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you…" Exodus 23:25

Today is Wednesday, February 19, 2020.  On Tues, Feb. 11 I had a CT Scan with contrast of my chest and abdomen and a bone scan to see if the current treatment I was on is working to get rid of the cancer.  My treatment as of Feb. 11 was one tablet per day of Afinitor and one tablet per day of Aromasin (Exemestane).

The Doctor's office called me on the following Wednesday and asked if I had been sick, had any chest congestion, a cold or was experiencing shortness of breath.  I told the nurse that I had not been sick but I was experiencing shortness of breath when I would make up the bed, walk from one end of the house to the other or exert myself in the slightest.  I told her that I thought it was because I was not able to eat very much and had no energy which made me very tired.  The Afinitor side effects I was experiencing was, after I go to sleep I wake up with the 'mad itch' like a million fire ants were swarming over my body.  I would also have super extreme night sweats that would wake me.  So, I wasn't getting very much rest at all.  I would take tylenol and that seemed to help with the itching plus I used various anti-itch creams and lotions to help relieve the itching.  I would also get in the shower and use the hottest water I could stand for a few minutes then use cold water.  That also helped.  The extreme itching did not affect me when I was awake but there would be occasional light itching.  The Afinitor also took my appetite away and made some foods taste really strange.  As a result I have lost about 25 lbs or so.  I'm lucky that I had the weight to lose or I would look like a skeleton now.

Any way, back to the doctor's office call....  The nurse called me back and said Dr. Arb wants me to stop taking the Afinitor and we would discuss things on the following Friday during our office visit.  Friday comes and Wayne and I see Dr. Arb.  She checked my lungs and had me take a deep breath.  I could not take a deep breath without coughing.  She heard no wheezing or rattles in my lungs which was a good thing.  She then told us that I had a condition called PNEUMONITIS.  Afinitor was the cause.  1-5% of people who take Afinitor experience this side effect.  It is the inflammation of the tissues in the lungs.  It causes the lungs to become stiff and as a result I experience shortness of breath.  If left untreated it can be life threatening.  The treatment she prescribed for me was to stop taking the Afinitor and take Prednisone for two weeks, once a day to help with the healing.  My lungs will not have any residual problems or issues due to the Pneumonitis and will be as good as new once they heal.

She went on to say that my scans showed no cancer in my bones and I only had cancer in my liver.  The cancer in my liver shows signs of shrinking and that I was, once again, considered stable.  She told us that there is a brand new test that had come out for my type of cancer and she was going to have that test run on my biopsy they took back when I was diagnosed with METS.  This test will enable her to make a more informed decision on my next course of treatment.  I asked her if there will ever come a time when she will run out of treatment options for me in the future.  Her answer was no, that there was always new medications coming available.  She considers me an A+ patient due to my health and I respond well to the treatments she puts me on despite the side effects.  She said my liver is still working well and has no problems other than the cancer growing on it or in it.  My white blood count was normal, so my biggest issue was the Pneumonitis.

Dr. Arb also said that she went into practice 24 years ago and began treating a patient for the same cancer I have.  Go forward 24 years and that very same patient is still being treated by her and is still living with a full quality of life.  She said the biggest thing with patients that have METS is they get tired of going to the doctor, having tests run, waiting on the results, etc. that they come to a decision to stop treatment.  The other issue METS patients have is dealing with the psychological aspects of the disease.  You are on a medication, it's 3 months before you have your scans done then you see the doctor to find out if the meds are still working.  Some patients cannot deal with it and decide to stop the treatment.  Well, folks, that ain't me by a long shot.  I have been through a gauntlet of emotions from the time this started and I am now at the point that I don't dwell on whether or not the treatment is working.  If it were not for having to take a pill every day, or having side effects, I would forget I even have cancer.  Sure it's a bummer to have to schedule your life around tests and doctor's appointments but the alternative is not something I want, ever.

  

It has now been one week since being off the Afinitor and I am able to take deeper breaths but not a huge inhale without coughing.  It takes about two weeks for my lungs to heal so I'm getting there.  The itching that I was experiencing after going to sleep is gone!  Thank you Jesus!  I'm not sure about the night sweats at this point.  I still have them but they don't seem as bad.  I am resting better when I am asleep which was much needed rest.

That's it for now and I will update again when I see the doctor on the 28th to discuss my next treatment.

God hears your prayers and I thank you all so very much for praying for me.  I could not ask for a better group of friends and family.  I love you all.

Glenda