Dry January is officially over. Yay!!

I just passed my 8 year anniversary of diagnosis on January 28th… cancerversary, good times.

Hmm. Where to start…

I’ll skip a lot of the BS. I had a little chemo break from September to December. This was due to little infections and a crazy thing called Covid (I finally got the VID in October, while traveling on a cruise ship). I assume that’s where a lot of other people got covid too, but I’m just going off of the sounds of sniffing, sneezing and coughing around me at that time:

I’ve healed from that, had MRI/CT scans in late November to see where we were at with things. It turns out, that because I was not on treatment, things have taken the opportunity to show right back up in my liver where they always do, hence “Groundhog Day”. There’s a spot right next to my fancy bile duct (root of all problems). I had a PET scan in December to get a better look at things. Turns out, it’s all real and active disease and will need some addressing. I opted to start chemo again, FOLFIRI + Vectibix (5FU, Irinitecan, & Panitumumab). We had also reached out to Radiation Oncology for a consult. As of now, I’ve had three chemo treatments. I met with Dr. Samson in the radiation oncology department. She went over the limited options and the risks. This area has been problematic and will be very tricky to treat, without causing damage to the areas in close proximity which have been treated twice with radiation in the last few years.

I went in mid January to get radiation “mapping” done. Mapping, is where they do some additional imaging to see where EXACTLY they need to direct treatment beams. In my case, they have you lay down and they create a mould or cradle around your body to keep you in this perfect position. They often create “marks”, using an ink pen and tape over these crosshair marks to preserve them for the next few weeks. Sometimes they will use a small needle to tattoo these areas, in order to line things back up for future appointments. By doing all of this they can very accurately position the patient the EXACT same way for each treatment.

I have started proton radiation today (Feb 6). I’ll have treatment everyday this week (short course radiation), for five total treatments. Hopefully they can get it all. I’ve been learning a lot more of the severity of my current issue. I guess it being so close to previously radiation treated areas can increase risk for necrosis to the tissue and in turn lead to liver failure. It’s very important to focus this treatment on the tumor, but equally important to not cause any major damage to the surrounding area as to effect any liver function or lead to any “loss” of function or cause tissue death. I learned scarring is okay, necrosis is bad, very bad. Don’t die liver:

So with that all said, we’ll lob up another “Hail Mary” and hope that with a little luck it gets hit somewhere in fair play and not “fouled off”. If you know what I mean. Fouled off or fouled up. Ha.

I’ve been learning about this bile duct area and how it’s very important for draining things and of course your arteries and veins are very near this area as well. Unfortunately, surgery is not an option this time, nor will it be in future. It has been my “precious real estate”, that has been slowly becoming less and less with all of these surgeries and radiation treatments. They removed over 75% of my liver in the first year. Yes, some regenerates, but you still need some of that original tissue. That’s what we’re trying to preserve. The transplant option is off the table as well, as I continue to have lymph node involvement outside of the liver.

I’ve been riding out these miracles and good luck and good vibes and faith from everyone, so I plan on continuing to do so. I have full confidence in my “team”. I’ve been really enjoying getting to spend all of this time traveling with Kim and getting to see and meet new and old friends and spending time with family. Hoping for lots more time and travel in future. Stay tuned kids.

In the words of Lizzo:

I’m not the girl I was or used to be, bitch, I might be better…

From radiation of course… and maybe cancer in general.

Be positive, not just “body positive”.

Cheers.

J