In my last post I mentioned that Linda’s tumour markers were rising and it was some cause for concern. Yesterday, we saw our spunky, interim oncologist and despite her very friendly, upbeat analysis, she couldn’t completely hide the sobering reality of our situation. Linda’s medication has ceased working, her petscan showed progression of disease in her bones and there is a fairly urgent need to change therapy. The only real upside is that the aggressive, triple negative type breast cancer has yet to spread to any of her organs which, given the situation is quite surprising.
So, we weren’t exactly shell-shocked but it was a fairly grim reminder that Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer takes no prisoners and can play a long hand. But, as Linda bravely declared, “it’s game time!”
We are now back to the type of treatment most people understand when it comes to any type of cancer treatment-medication being fed intravenously. A three week cycle, one day a week for two weeks and a week off. It’s a fairly strong drug apparently and as any of these things can do may cause side effects.
We both knew that it had to come to this. We knew that eventually the therapies burn out, that dastardly cancer figures out a way to get around medication eventually but it doesn’t make it any easier when it happens. But where there is light, there is always a way forward.
As you can imagine our emotions take a battering on days like this and although Linda pushes on with only the occasional wobble it must take a great strength of mind to keep a brave face when confronting this “uncertain certainty”.
Fear not, there is one more treatment left up the barrel if this one fails but we do hope we don’t have to use it for a great deal of time yet.
Until next time.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 