sms post (No. 2)

Today’s weight is 68.8 kg. This is up a little from a week or two ago, but still maybe a touch down on a longer term comparison . (This short message posted from my mobile phone)

sms post (No. 1)

I have devised a means so that it is now possible for me to post short blog entries from my mobile phone. Today’s post from a local cafe. (This short message posted from my mobile phone)

It could be worse

CT August 8, 2008

It is several months since I have posted. I haven’t felt inclined to tap the blogger’s keyboard, for several reasons, including a bit of lethargy and my usual tendency to wander off to new interests and distractions, but I may have also felt a greater than usual reluctance to put too much of my inner landscape up on the big board.

In the meantime, the main medical news that didn’t get published in this period was my decision, some time ago, to go ahead with the pemetrexed treatment and the first cycle commenced on June 11. There have since been two further cycles and late last week I had a CT scan to check progress.

Unfortunately, the scan showed continued growth and spread in the lungs and so this treatment has now been discontinued.

The oncologist’s recommendation is now to discontinue any further chemotherapy options for the time being and instead try a drug called erlotinib, which instead of acting as a general cytotoxic agent as chemotherapy does, targets something called an epidermal growth factor receptor in the cancer cells. I am now ruminating on this issue, but will probably commence this treatment in a week or two. The drug is administered by a simple daily tablet, there are some probably mildish side effects generally expected and again, this treatment is given an approximately 10% chance of significantly reducing the tumors.

Clearly the situation is looking increasingly perilous, but apart from pain issues, I am still generally in good health, with reasonable energy levels, good appetite and stable weight. My lungs do not yet seem very much, if at all, stressed by any increased lack of capacity.

Now coming to the inner landscape again, there is a lot going on and I am doing my best to understand and deal with my situation in all sorts of ways. This blog then is still active, no matter how minimally for the moment, and I hope to return to it more frequently sooner or later, and perhaps relate a broader range of views and experiences at this extraordinary time in my life.

Radiologist’s report follows below. The CT scan above shows the primary lung tumor and some of the new spots, but of course there are other slides from the scan that show the further spread in the lung and kidneys.