Chemotherapy has begun

So I was able to get into the clinical study that my doctor was really wanting me to join. I barely made the cutoff before it was closed…like within hours.

Also, they had to rush a brain procedure in order to get me cleared for the study. It is called Gamma Knife. They shoot gamma radiation in tiny beams into my head to zap spots of cancer metastasis. There were multiple sites they zapped. All went well.

This past Thursday was my first day of treatment. I go to the cancer center here in town which is nice. I sit in a leather recliner. They give me a warm blanket and then get an IV started. Because it was the first day of treatment on the study, they had to observe me for 4 hours after everything was done. So 8:30 am to 6:30pm I was there. It wasn’t bad at all.

I fully expected to feel some negative side effects or nausea during the infusion but I’ve not had any such side effects. In fact, my back and rib pain has lessened a great deal. I’ve been sleeping well also.

The analogy I tell people is that for the last year, I was taking a targeted weed killer. It only kills one kind of weed and does not affect the others. Cancer is usually made up of lots of cells and they are not all the same (different weeds). My original targeted therapy I started last year worked amazing well and got rid of all the weeds it could. Now we are going to a broad-spectrum weed killer as well as a different targeted therapy. The study includes 2 chemo meds and the targeted EGFR medication. My doctor feels good about it and so do I.

My biggest concern was nausea but that so far has not been a problem. I am hopeful things will continue to improve.

I’ll keep you all updated. If you have any specific questions or requests, just let me know.

-Jeremy