Thanks for bearing with me during the very hard months of August and September. I must say that my October, which kicked off with surgery, has been great! Being back in the embrace of treatment allows me to decide that my cancer is being disappeared. My next internal scan could have been as early as now but it is now scheduled for late December/early January and that thrills me. My costume for Halloween will be that of a woman without cancer. (Oddly enough, that looks just like me! Note photo above where both Holly and I are in costume.)
Updates:
Melting Matilda, my remaining tumor being named Matilda, (to the tune of Waltzing Matilda) is my current theme song.
My extracted tumor qualified for UPenn by having more than 100 million cells. It took a full year to get to this place! The next steps start in January with the scan and then a trip to Philly (anyone have frequent flyer miles they are desperate to get rid of?) I would sign paperwork that day *if* my cancer is stable and shrunk and I pass other modest tests. Then two weeks later I would be back for a rather invasive process that harvests dendritic cells from my white cells through a dialysis like machine to allow final production of the Marcy Westerling Vaccine. Two weeks to a month later I am back for the first vaccine treatment! I would have a minimum of 5 trips to Philadelphia so you can see why the donated miles will help. I am also checking out free rides in corporate jets for cancer patients. (I know – too funny.)
My current chemo regime is weekly and low impact but there are also unknowns as I am early in the process and a second drug should get added in next week. Will I lose my hair? Place your bet – half the providers say yes, half say no.
My transition from Kaiser to OHSU should happen this week. Honestly, I still do not know if it will happen. Tuesday or Wednesday I will make the final call to see if the incredibly cumbersome process of getting accepted by a prescription drug plan is complete. (For some reason they could not check the right box that allows an under 65 year old to transition plans in their entry window. Medicare can inform me that they messed up the submitted form but since medicare cant talk to them or vice versa – dont ask me why – being right has little value. So I reapply and again they dont check the right box. Really! Since I have a November 1st intake appointment at my new provider and need chemo election day a resolution happens this week be it Kaiser or OHSU. No call today so I am hoping that they finally found and checked the right little box.
Many of you have been very generous with care packages of late. You got me through a hard time. Now you can save them for the next hard moment of testing. I truly pray that after 15 months of recurrence treatment w.mainly bad news we get a little break in the clouds – disease reduction and clearance for the Hail Mary pass to kick off 2013! (And decent election results….)
And lastly, for those in driving distance to Portland I am doing a reading at a local coffeehouse on Thursday, November 15th from 6:30-7:00.
Marcy Westerling will read from her works on Livingly Dying, a phrase borrowed from the late Christopher Hitchens.
While the content may not seem like date night material, it will be an honest chance to walk with one woman as she faces a terminal cancer diagnosis – including the positives of having a husband and community that walk every step with her. Cancer is epidemic and dying is a given for all who enter this world. Why not look behind the curtain for 30 minutes?
They have seating for 50 so please spread the word!
Rain or Shine Coffee House is a bright, cozy space at the foot of Mt. Tabor. 5941 SE Division St - Portland, OR 97206
livingly dying 