And The Winner Is….Plan B!

March 19, 2008

Yes, O Best Beloveds, the markers went from 90 to 120. Dang it. Dang it. “This still doesn’t mean cancer running rampant through your body,” said a subdued but still totally optimistic Dr. W. “I think when we restage you [run PET and bone scans when I come back] we will see only microscopic changes.”

So I stop Xeloda immediately and take a week off and then go on Aromasin. And that’s…well, that’s good, because, oh, you know. The hands, the feet. Maybe my semi-permanently bent right index finger will go down in swelling and unbend now. But still. Xeloda has been my security blanket for so long, since last May. A security blanket made out of barbed wire, but a comfort nonetheless.

I’m anxious about doing something that seems so…benign, I said to Dr. W.

“Look, that’s a misnomer,” replied Dr. W. “It’s like asking which has a more forceful personality–Barack Obama or Harry Truman? One’s more calm, the other more volatile.” So I shouldn’t panic just yet? “You shouldn’t panic at all.” He also said he has another chemo up his sleeve that doesn’t really have side effects, but it is an IV once a week type thing, so it continues to be a bit style cramping. And there are more hormone treatments, and other more unpleasant chemos, so options remain.

Oh, man. So a reprieve of sorts, but at a potential cost. Aromasin seems too good to be true, but if there is anything to mind-body connection, I need to think of it as potent stuff indeed. Go, little white pill! I remind myself of the British motto “Keep Calm and Carry On.” I also remember the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy which says “Don’t Panic…”

In Large Friendly Letters on the Front Cover,