Well that went better than I ever could have expected. At the time I had the scans (July 22nd), I had been taking Tagrisso for 9 weeks and 1 day. The results have been spectacular. The metastases (or mets) that had spread to my brain are now gone. The primary tumor in my lung is quite significantly reduced in size, and the surrounding lung tissue now looks healthy. The mets to my bones are smaller and are healing. The pleural effusion that was (and is) restricting my breathing is smaller. Really, other than getting to No Evidence of Disease (NED), this checkup could not have gone better. Tagrisso really has been a wonder drug, and every night at 8 pm I drink my daily toast (of water, with a pill) to modern medicine. I would not have believed these types of results were possible when battling cancer from just taking a pill. No chemo, no radiation therapy, just a pill that for me has had minimal side effects (others are not so lucky). I get some cramping from the electrolyte imbalance it can create, which has so far been easily solveable by drinking 20-40 ounces of Gatorade daily. I have a bit of a rash (which looks like pimples) on my nose and the top of my head. Again, easily dealt with by careful cleaning and mostly letting them come and go. My appetite is reduced, and food can sometimes be a chore to eat, so when I need calories I drink a chocolate shake. I get fatigued, which has probably been the hardest thing to deal with. I used to run 30-50 miles a week, and now a daily 2 mile walk wipes me out. But all of that is nothing compared to untreated lung cancer, which was literally killing me 3 months ago. I am elated with how well the treatment is going. My family and I are so very grateful for the advances in cancer treatments, and are thankful specifically to AstraZeneca for developing Tagrisso.
So what's next?
I'm glad you asked. Next is we continue with Tagrisso, have another PET scan on my body in September, another MRI on my brain in November, and followups with my oncologist after each one. This will become the rhythm of our lives for quite a while, if not forever. Even if the cancer becomes undetectable in my body at some point in the future, cancer is the kind of disease that likes to come back, so I will get scanned a lot over the coming months and years. And eventually, Tagrisso stops working as the cancer mutates to get around it, necessitating different treatments. But that moment is hopefully quite a ways away, so for now we are going to Carpe Diem as a family, enjoy our time with each other, spend time with friends, and find the beauty in the world around us as best we can. I suggest you do the same.
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| Sunset at a little pond near our house. |
I am very grateful for all the support and love I've received from my friends and family over the past several months. Having you all in my corner has made coping with this much easier for me and my family. Thank you all.
