The last nine months have been a whirlwind. It was weekly treatments, waiting to feel better from the treatment, time to do another treatment. God continues to show us blessings despite the circumstances we face.
I had my CT scan and cancer markers done last week. We met with Dr. Skinner this past Monday to go over the results and the game plan moving forward.
The CT scan did still show some small tumors around the bladder, which we expected. They have shrunk since we started chemo and the plan is to keep them at bay using the maintenance IV therapy. This is the Avastin generic which prevents the cancer cells from creating their own blood supply, which keeps them from growing bigger. I have gotten this medication over the last 9 months every 2 weeks. I've tolerated it very well which only some minor nosebleeds. The major potential side effects are high blood pressure and kidney issues, neither of which have been a problem so far. We will continue to monitor my labs and blood pressure. I will get this IV infusion every three weeks indefinitely moving forward.
The new cancer marker we have been trying to monitor over the past year has proven not to be effective as it jumps all over the place. Since it doesn't match with what is seen on the CT scan, Dr. Skinner decided to stop monitoring it. We agreed since it isn't adding any value to my treatment plan.
We will see Dr. Skinner every 3 weeks with the infusions for the first bit of this maintenance phase to make sure that I'm tolerating it well. We will scan again when needed based on symptoms, labs, or time.
Lately, we have enjoyed trick or treating with the kids and our family. Wilson had come up with the idea to do a group costume and he decided what everyone would be. He chose to be Peter Pan, Parker as Tinkerbell, me as Wendy, Wil as Captain Hook (hence the handlebar mustache that he trying to convince me he needs to keep), Grandma as Tiger Lilly, and GranTed as Smee. Wilson did want the dogs to be the mermaids from the lagoon but I didn't get around to making that costume. I am quite proud of Wil's jacket as I made that from a suit coat I got from GoodWill. I also made Smee's costume from shirts from GoodWill. Parker initially was not a fan of wearing her wings, hence the crying, but she got use to them. We went around with our friends, the Hemphills, and some in our neighborhood as well. We all had a blast!
