Over a month has gone by and we are (all) still at home. The only visitor* here since early March has been my son. I will not turn him away. He even let me give him a haircut this week😉
I started this new chemo over 6 weeks ago, on the same day our shelter in place went into effect. The Xeloda cycle I'm starting with consists of 14 days on, 1 week off, 1000mg 2x/daily. Repeat indefinitely. I've now completed 2 cycles and just started my 3rd. Last week, I went in for labwork and found out that my tumor markers have almost doubled since the end of February (not good) when the last tests were done before starting Xeloda (capecitabine). As a result, my oncologist has increased my dose, 1000mg in the morning and 1500mg at night, in hopes it will start bringing those numbers down. I will go back for more testing mid-May and they will do a CT scan then to see what's going on inside my body. In the past, I have been pretty accurate in listening to my body and determining what's going on. Well enough my doctors listen and trust me. If I had to guess, I'd say my liver tumors continue to grow/spread and there's a possibility of new activity in my lower spine. Time will tell...
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So I started this post at the beginning of this week and was feeling okay. Yesterday and today my nausea has worsened and my mouth sores are back. I'm not sure but I think they're even in my throat. At least that's what I'm hoping is the reason for my sore throat and swollen lymph nodes in my neck.
My prayer request is probably pretty obvious this time. Please pray this higher dose works. Please pray the side effects get no worse, and if God wills is, for them to lessen or go away. Please pray that I'm not getting sick.
Thank you!
Photo: me, in my home studio today. Working from home❤
*I have since had 2 friends come visit this week. My mental state was not good and when I weighed out the risks, I decided it was worth it. Sitting apart in my backyard, enjoying a face to face conversation... priceless.
Photo: Backyard Social Distance Approved visits now available. 😉
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