Chemo #8 Update

To begin with, Princess Pancake has decided to help me write this post. I suppose she missed her mamma while I was in Jax.

The night before I left for Jax both Princess Pancake and Sir Flapjack decided to sleep on top of me for about 45 minutes.

 The next morning Sir Flapjack and Dame Marmalade decided to help me work from the recliner.

Yesterday, I passed my COVID-19 test. I am beginning to be an expert at these. This time they did not even go through all the instructions. Then I got blood work. This was the first time they used my port to draw blood. It was painful going in but that will be less painful as it heals. I asked her to leave the needle in since I was getting chemo in the morning. She said it was up to me. I said, let's try. I had to sleep on my back all night and not take a shower but other than that, no other restrictions. It was worth it not to get to have two sticks.

I met with my oncologist this morning. Today, it was just him. He went through everything and thinks that I am doing great. He says that we are doing the right things by tracking my blood numbers, blood pressure, oxygen level, and pulse. He says that in time we may need to talk about oxygen. His plan is to see how the CT scan looks on December 9. I did tell him I want to pursue the FDA approved new drug immunotherapy for Mesothelioma. 

It includes two drugs Opdivo + Yervoy^®. It was approved October 2 and I think the commercials began immediately on TV. It is one of those ads where the guy is out with a woman dancing, he is working, living a fun life, and at the end he is sailing on boat. I told my mom, I want this drug combo because it appears I will get a boat. Seemed like a good reason to pick it!!!!! Just kidding. Honestly, I picked this drug combo for several reasons. One it has been through all of the clinical trials. This is the first new treatment for Mesothelioma in sixteen years to be approved by the FDA. When I start it, I will get infusions every three weeks. The clinical treatment included Opdivo and another drug. It would have required me to go to Tampa every two weeks for two years. It also required me to redo my biopsies and scans. I just did not have it in me to travel to Tampa every other week and basically start over. As I tell my oncologist, I want to get keep moving forward to get this out of me.

He seems to want to get as most out of this chemotherapy as possible. He said the side effects are a little less then with the new immunotherapy. Apparently, the cancer cells put up breaks to a typical immune system so it cannot fight the cancer cells. With immunotherapy, the drugs target the immune system and arm it to attack cancer cells, essentially breaking their break so the immune system can attack the cells. Basically, the cancer is a terrorist in my body and the immunotherapy is the like Navy Seals. 

I really like this doctor because he takes all of my questions and concerns seriously. He tells us all the time that we ask good questions. He never rushes me and he is always honest with me. He doesn't have an ego and always encourages me to get other opinions and check other things out. He did tell me that he was going to following up with my cardiologist to find out why he did not respond last week. He also told me that he will always tell me to go to the ER if I tell him I have having chest pains, which makes sense. When my mom asked about the research on cancer vaccines and if any were going on in the US because she keeps reading about the trials in Europe, he answered yes. He explained to us that in Europe they tend to advertise early in trials unlike in the US. He began by telling us he was biased to the US (however, since he is from Syria I would say he is open minded). He also said he attends conferences and meetings internationally. He said he feels the US has done the most of any country. He did say Europe was neck in neck. He also said that the FDA will approve work from Europe. All of this made us feel better. In case you want to know what a cancer vaccine is, in this case it is for individuals who have been battling cancer. They remove the dendritic cells , mature them to attack cancer cells, and then put them back into your body. They re-enter and then destroy the cancer cells. 

I was cleared for chemo. My hemoglobin was low but within the range. The rest of the blood work looked good. It is amazing how low things go and then go back up. The body is an amazing scientific machine....I believe in science unlike some people in the world (sorry, I could not resist).

I geared up in my ring and bracelets. I added a new bracelet from a friend so I felt it was time to post my armor.

Then into the infusion room. Each time I go I have new nurses. They thought I was dressed up for Halloween. They didn't know this was my "Kick Cancer's A**" outfit. I did add new socks to the office, which a gift from a great group of friends. I also wore my RBG mask today. I had intended on being decked out in my Biden Harris shirt; however, with the port I had to wear a button down shirt. This will hurt my shirt game with awesome sayings but the port is worth it.

With only one drug for chemo, we get in and out in about 90 minutes now, which is nice to get home before 8 PM. Sydney is always waiting for us when we get out and I snuggle with him on the ride home. It reminds me of being a kid going home after chemo with my mom and my Nana, who I know is on this journey with us.

When we got home, we decided to drop off my ballot. 

I made the decision last week to turn in my ballot early. This will be the first election I have not voted in on Election day since I turned 18. I love voting on Election Day. I look forward to it. However, with an extremely compromised immune system and COVID, it is not worth the risk. Besides, being the week after chemo I just did not know how I will fell. Next election, we will be able to back at the polls. I believe it! The drop off box was great because they used a door stop to prop the lid open and had two people poll watchers monitoring it. I did not have to touch anything. It took 2 minutes to walk from the car to the box and back. Highly impressed! I did look at the line for voting and it was short. I do believe that my county does a good job with lots of early voting sites opened long hours. On Election Day, the poll locations are also aplenty. They have gloves and hand sanitizer for both the workers and the voters. They open the door for you too.

We got curbside while we were out. I will give a shout out to Olive Garden. They were on top of watching the curbside to get us our food. When it came out and one of the our orders was wrong, they immediately went in and got the correct food for us as well as let us keep what they had given us. It only took five minutes to fix. 

For tonight . . . I'm just sayin' XOXO