Happy Saturday!

I am starting to feel much better as my bilirubin is getting back to a more normal range. The whites of my eyes are still yellowish, but my skin has returned to the ashen grey that can be attributed to chemotherapy! Yeah!

Anyway, Jack and I are running errands today while Mo and Michael take it easy. I truly consider it a privilege to be able to have enough energy to run an errand that I would like to be involved with. That may sound silly, but cancer can strip you of your energy...or actually, my medicine has done that. So, it hasn't given me much ability to be a normal person.

I know I am not really normal anyway, I am an eccentric writer and breast cancer advocate. I am very cool with that, as long as I have enough energy to be the crazy gal I like to be. I am trying to consider these last four months on chemo as a way to purge the cancer from my body and have a new beginning. I get to start all over. I GET to start all over. I am pretty lucky, blessed.

We will start a new chemotherapy on Tuesday, but it is not like this last one. All chemos are different and all chemos work on people uniquely. Abraxane, which was my last chemo is extremely hard-hitting, but that is what we needed. Those types of chemos make you lose hair and all the other major side effects. Navelbine is the next chemo I will be taking. It is a chemotherapy in that it goes after all fast-growing cells, but it is not as ferocious as Abraxane. That is why I should be able to get a lot of my energy back.

Another reason I will get my energy back is because of the stent they put in my liver. For now, they put a small stent in, but they will go back in in about six weeks to put a larger one. Already, I can see the physical benefits of this procedure. However, because of this blockage and the build up of bile, my body has had difficulty metabolizing all the nutrients of food. Therefore, my weight has remained extremely low and there is not much I can do about it.

The procedure has opened up the bile duct from the liver and is allowing the waste product not to stay in my body...but to expunge itself from my body. Yes, this is a serious problem so you should be thankful for your liver and good to it...because it is probably the most important organ you have. My liver has been through a lot, but like me it is resilient. The liver actually has some stem cell functionality in that it can repair itself. Pretty cool.

My liver still needs help to keep my cancer stable, but I can tolerate meds pretty well. I am sure you have figured that out. I figure we will be on navelbine for a while...maybe four to six months. I am not sure if this is the type of drug where my hair will grow back, but I think it is. I am also going to resume some nutritional supplements that would be helpful to my liver. And, I am going to resume juicing vegetables at least once a day. My liver will like that.

If you are starting to get the picture that I will be on meds forever, you are correct. We have achieved the ultimate goal of stability and we want to maintain it. There are other drugs on the horizon that will probably be available to me over the next year or so, but for now...navelbine and my two targeted drugs should help me remain stable. Stable is good when it comes to stage IV breast cancer. In fact, that is all that really matters to oncologists. I could live a long life with tumors in my body...as long as they don't grow. That is what matters.

I will write more about breast cancer later. It is a unique cancer, but all cancers are unique. Not only are there categories of cancers that are named based on where they originate in the body, but there are so many subcategories that doctors evaluate in order to determine the best treatment. It is amazing. I pinch myself every day to be alive and getting better. I know I am on the mend and am confident to continue down this road.

Happy Saturday!
Lolo