Check-up update

"C'mon little pills, work your magic."

Yup, I've been known to talk to my Olaparib. It's crazy, but I figure a little encouragement can't hurt. And quite honestly, it's probably to prompt my subconscious to continue to believe in it. The strength of the mind is a powerful thing.

I'm counting on this clinical trial drug to keep me cancer free longer. So far, so good. In fact, when I was at my check-up appointment in Hamilton yesterday, I asked about the other women who are in the hospital's study. C, my research nurse, said all the participants are doing well - including those who aren't on the study drug. Go figure. There are three women taking Olaparib who are ahead of me in the study - I'm number 4 of 6. They're experiencing minimal to no side effects and are doing well managing their cancer. Yippee!

They've even seen shrinkage in tumours with the Olaparib alone. I found that news extremely encouraging. Yay wonder drug!

My hemoglobin is finally rising and now sits at a respectable 113. It's still a little low, but far better than hovering around the 100 mark. My CA-125 rose slightly from 40 to 48, but C assured me it's normal to see a roller coaster effect with this marker. The rise makes me slightly uncomfortable, but I'm trying to forget about it since eveything else seems to be fine.

C even had a decent explanation for the hollow feeling/weird sensation I mentioned yesterday. My abdomen is full of scar tissue and nerve endings that may be stimulted by the jets in the hot tub. She wasn't sure because she'd never heard anyone complain of it before, but it seems logical to me.

As my fellow-blogging friends, Patty and Sami say, as women touched by ovarian cancer we're more in tune with every twinge in our bodies. We may blow inconsequential aches out of proportion, but we'll be sure to catch anything that requires further medical investigation early.

That's a good thing.

Tina