Health Update January 12, 2026

 Well, these updates are coming faster than they have in a while. Things continue to be more interesting than I would like.

So I had an MRI on my brain on January 2nd, to look at the results of both the surgery and the radiation treatments I had to my pituitary gland. The good news is my brain is once again clear of any cancer.

I had an MRI on my abdomen on January 7th to see how the microwave ablation treatment I had on December 1st went. The good news is the spot they ablated remains gone, and that area of my liver looks good. The bad news, unfortunately, is that the rest of my liver has developed numerous metastatic lesions since December 1st, and by "numerous" I mean at least 20. Far too many to do any kind of local intervention like another ablation or radiation. So what that means is my current treatment regime has failed, and we need to switch to another one.

Starting on Thursday Jan 15, I will be taking amivantamab, and will continue with Tagrisso. Amivantamab is delivered either through an injection (newly FDA approved, so not widely available yet) or through an IV infusion. The initial dose on Thursday is a small dose to make sure I don't have an allergic reaction, so I'll be there for at least four hours. Assuming that goes well, I'll have the full dose on Friday the 16th, and after that I'll get an infusion or injection once a week. After about 6 weeks we will look to see how well it's working.

In the meantime, I have discontinued Tabrecta, the drug we added back in June 2024 when I had my first major progression. As Tabrecta has been my most problematic medication, I won't miss the side effects, particularly the edema. But it's always a bit sad when you have to change treatments, as it means I'm a little further along in my journey, or to use my previous metaphor, my wolf is circling a little closer. So farewell and thanks, Tabrecta, and please take your fluid retention with you as you leave.

I'm nervous to be starting a new medication, as they all have side effects that can be mild or extreme, and you never know which way it's going to go until you start. On the other hand, I'm very grateful to have another treatment option available that is not chemotherapy, as my one experience with chemo was not pleasant.

With things changing as much as they have been lately, I'll probably be making more frequent updates to this blog.