Three Months Again…

Well, it’s that time again. Three months have gone by, and it’s time for my doctor appointments again. Cancer at this stage seems to be a series of doctor appointments. I’m thankful I’m this far along, so I kind of know things will likely go…but still, it doesn’t always go the way I think it might.

Kelli was my partner this time, going to my appointments.

If you haven’t followed along on my cancer journey, let me catch you up. I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2016. Mine is not the normal thyroid cancer. I have radioactive-resistant follicular thyroid cancer. My cancer is treatable, but I will never be cured of it. I go through periods when things are going well and others when things are not good. Right now I’m on what is called a salvage drug. There aren’t a lot more things they can do after this, so I’ve been hopeful this will work. I started a drug called Lenvima in March. It was supposed to have some nasty side effects. I’ve had a few of them. I’ve had high blood pressure, which has been figured out. I’ve had issues eating. My mouth was super sensitive, but that has gotten better. I’ve had bathroom issues too, and that often keeps me close to a bathroom. We’re working on getting it under control. The medicine doesn’t have as many side effects as I was originally told.

My scan appointments were at 8:15 in the morning. UGH. We live 2 1/2 hours away. Traffic would be bad at the time, so Kelli and I opted to blow the money and go on Sunday evening and get a hotel room. We stopped at Jethros BBQ. Kelli and I are really simple. The restaurant is right next to the hotel we were staying at. We had eaten at Jethros a different time. Liz, Kayla’s friend, had given me a gift certificate to go there, and the food was awesome.

All the way to Iowa City, Kelli and I were watching the basketball games for the WNBA. It’s tournament season, and we didn’t want to miss the games. We even turned the game on when we were in the restaurant ordering food.

We ended up taking our food back and ate it in the hotel room. By the way, every team we wanted to win lost. UGH.

I didn’t sleep well at all. I think I was over-tired from a long day, and I spent a lot of time in the bathroom.

We were up by 6:30 to get ready to go for the scans. They did CTs and three MRIs. Everything went smoothly. I was out from the scans, and Kelli and I grabbed food from the cafeteria, packaged it up, and went to the downtown hospital and clinic for my doctor appointment.

Kelli and I ate at a table in the waiting room. Oh my. The pumpkin cheesecake was to die for. By now I was getting test results via MyChart and text messages. All was looking pretty good.

My doctor was fairly on time. That usually doesn’t happen. He had all good news for us. He was happy with how I was progressing with the meds and the results. Everything is stable. I talked with him about a plan for my frequent bathroom visits. If that doesn’t clear up in two weeks, then I’m going off my meds for a week. Then start up again. The doc said that typically that resets everything and the side effects go away. People often take a one-week break, so I wasn’t to worry about it if that’s where things went. WHEW.

We were ready to go home…I got my three-month ticket to life without having to worry about my cancer. I go back again after Christmas.

On a side note, you might remember that I’ve been having back pain and have had trouble with my nasopharynx. Well, the scans that I have to do find more things than only cancer. It appears I likely have a chronic sinus infection. I also have a messed-up back with bulging discs and the like. I already knew my lower back wasn’t normal…now my upper cervical area is a problem too. In an odd way, that was very comforting. When I had gone to the doctor wanting something for the pain, I had felt like I was giving in to the pain…Now I can see that my pain is completely legitimate. The scan completely explained my back pain.

So that’s my report…I’m so happy I have mostly good news.