Message from Lisa: Week 4
Friends, things have been pretty tough around here.
One week ago, I had the bronchoscopy procedure with biopsy to confirm metastasis. This has now been confirmed as Stage 4.
The good news is that the cancer hasn’t changed in pathology at all, which means it hasn’t morphed into something more aggressive/less treatable. So we’re continuing with the initial treatment plan of 18 weeks of chemo which started this past Monday.
Infusion day is a LONG day. We start with vitals, bloodwork from the port, and meeting with the doctor, then they have to do vitals again and there’s a lot of waiting around in between things. Once we were in the infusion room we were able to settle in a bit more - George and I had a relatively comfortable room to ourselves with a big window and we packed my favorite cozy blanket from home along with lots of seltzers and snacks. We ordered lunch and I had some phone calls with friends to help the time go by faster.
That evening I was pretty zonked due to the combination of things they gave me to combat chemo side effects, but throughout the rest of this week I’ve been managing better than I thought I might. So far, side effects have been manageable with meds and I’ve been able to work semi-normal days, taking things slow and carving out breaks for rest as the main thing is being extremely tired. It’s hard to tell what’s a side effect from chemo, vs what is a culmination of the last 6 weeks of adrenaline, stress, lingering hormones, information overload, and complete exhaustion.
I read that Days 4-7ish of each cycle might be expected to be the worst as far as side effects, so I’m trying to mentally prepare myself for that as much as possible. Hoping for some nice weather later on this weekend so we can get outside.
I also wanted to share the additional good news that genetic testing of my DNA shows no mutations that are known to predispose people to cancer (such as BRCA). This means that there’s no heritable risk to Archie which is a relief!
Finally, another thank you to everyone who’s been reaching out - truly, no amount is too much. The mental aspect of all this is probably going to be the hardest for me, and I want to feel connected to all of you as much as possible, so even if I don’t respond just know how helpful it is for me to get your check-ins and encouragement. We’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of our network near and far and we’re so grateful <3
Lisa