Not the news we wanted, but…..

 My appointment with Dr Satelli last week did not yield the answers we wanted, but I do have options.  It seems the Orserdu I was on for the last 3 months have kept my bone mets stable with no new growth or lesions. But…..(always a but) it did not attack my liver mets like we were hoping. In fact, there are now more liver mets and the previous ones have all doubled in size.  

So, it’s on to my third line of treatment. I will be starting a new drug called Xeloda as soon as insurance approves and it can get ordered. My Oncologist also wants me to go through a ‘wash-out’ period of about two weeks to ensure the previous drug is all out of my system and it’s reset and ready for the new one. 

Xeloda (Capecitabine) is an oral chemotherapy pill-whereas my last two lines of treatment were estrogen targeting drugs. I’m still not having any liver function issues-which is GREAT-but we can’t risk that potentially happening while waiting to see if the Orserdu will start working. 

Xeloda comes with its own lovely side effects being that it is truly a chemotherapy agent. High likelihood of severe nausea and vomiting and dehydration secondary to that. So if my husband thought I was crazy with my drink cups around the house and car before……just wait.  It can also cause some skin toxicity which typically results in the extreme sloughing of the skin of the hands and feet-time to start loading up on my aquaphor and Vaseline!  Good thing I’m not working anymore and washing my hands a bajillion times a day. They would really be a mess. Other than that-there can be some diarrhea, loss of appetite and kidney issues I’ll have to watch closely-hence the need for increased hydration too. 

I have to admit I am super deflated about already having to switch meds after only 3 months of the Orserdu. It really had minimal side effects and didn’t hit my immune system as hard as my first treatment. BUT-on the positive side, only my liver mets increased and not my bone mets, so at least we’re not fighting BOTH of those from scratch.  

Not a long post today, because honestly I’m still processing this news and I’m mad and sad and angry and feel like crawling into bed for a week. But, (again with the buts) I really believe that projecting positivity, a good attitude and believing I can get good results with Xeloda is just as important as it actually working. 

So I’ll have my 5 minute pity-party (this one has been a bit longer than 5 minutes) and then pull myself together, put a smile on my face and march forward in this fight against this shitty disease. 

Thanks for fighting with me. 

Love and hugs

K