Holiday

I've been on chemotherapy treatment for nine months straight. Dr. W says that's long enough and I need a chemo holiday. Now this holiday isn't like one of those fun ones where you stuff your bathing suit (or snow pants, as your preferences dictate) in your suitcase and head for adventure. This simply means I won't take treatment for somewhere probably between one and three months.

The objective is to measure if there is an improvement in some of the symptoms I've been experiencing: tiredness, weakness, shortness of breath, etc. If these things improve during the holiday, I'll get stronger and their culprit was the chemotherapy. However, if thing get worse, the cancer itself is causing the problems.

I was disappointed he didn't have the final report on my CT scan from last Friday. It's been written and is lost in the hospital computer system. Dr. W did a read of the images and said that while there seems to be more ascities, the disease around the stomach and other areas of my abdomen seem to be improved. So that's good news - although I would have liked to have seen the official report read by the radiologist.

So during the holiday, I'll continue to fill with ascities and need to go in for taps periodically. I'll visit Dr. W every three to four weeks to see how I'm feeling and monitor my CA-125 levels. I also have the option to call him if something doesn't feel or seem right.

We also talked about a couple of different options for treatment after my holiday. One involves an chemo pill I'd take every day and the other is a different type of chemo I'd take once a day for five days every three weeks. We'd talk more about these different treatments and what seems right for me when the time comes.

So there are options. He assured me he'd let me know when there were no more treatment options.

The goal here is to preserve (or reachieve) quality of life. I need to be able to enjoy the time I do have left on this earth. And speaking of which, I may just stuff a swimsuit in a suitcase and take a real vacation during my chemo holiday. Once I get some strength back and can get through the day without a nap or two, I should be able to enjoy one.

Here's hoping.
Tina