May 18, 2024 - Current plan and things going on recently

First, I want you all to know that I love and appreciate everyone that thinks about me or reaches out. I feel fine. I don't feel like I have cancer. But its still here. It hasn't gone away like we had hoped. The thing with ovarian cancer is that when its stage 3+ and/or high grade serous (which mine was), it doesn't always go away. It might be something that goes into remission for a few months or a few years and then needs to be treated again. I had about 8 months between my first chemo rounds finishing and it coming back. I had hoped for more time in between. But it is what it is. I then went away last summer knowing it was back. I knew before I left for Taiwan and Japan, but I wanted to live my life. I felt fine, and the doctors and I all agreed it was fine. When I got back from my summer travels last year in September, we started again. We just finished that up in March, but its back again.

I have been on the maintenance infusion every 3 weeks, but my CA 125 has also been climbing back up. I have a few weeks of appointments to catch up on, so this will be a long post...

March 29th was my first maintenance infusion after finishing chemo. I did post that day.

April 17th I went in for my annual checkup with my primary care physician... My cholesterol is still high from last year, up even a little higher. And my blood pressure is still high (which it will be because of the maintenance drug). So the PCP wanted to do a CT coronary calcium scan of my arteries, which is fine. I would rather run tests to rule things out... That was scheduled for May 4th.

April 22nd was my next maintenance infusion, blood work day. I had a follow up with my surgeon, and a follow up/meeting with my new oncologist. My blood work showed things back to normal where the chemo had been affecting my blood counts, hemoglobin, etc... My surgeon, who is a gynecological oncologist, recommended I start an oral chemo drug to try and keep my CA 125 steady, or even decrease it. She suggested this because of my planned travels - she understands the importance of my travels and didn't want to interfere. She also increased my blood pressure med dose to try and reduce that... The oncologist wanted a CT scan as a new baseline before starting the oral chemo. So that was scheduled for May 6th.

I had an open order for a breast MRI due to being high risk because of the ovarian cancer and family breast cancer history. So we scheduled that for May 6th also.

May 4th CT coronary calcium score was 0, which is good.  It means there is no calcified plaque seen.

May 6th Breast MRI was clear - there were some areas not as easily seen because of scar tissue and my port. I went in to see the high risk clinician and she checked those areas - they are all good.

May 6th CT Abdomen and Pelvis Scan - a previously seen soft tissue thickening wasn't seen this time, so thats good. But another spot near the bladder has increased thickening. No other evidence of disease in the chest, abdomen, or pelvis. So we are thinking that maybe the cancer that is still around is in the thickening near my bladder...

May 14th was my next maintenance infusion and blood draw. I also had a follow up with my oncologist's PA (physician assistant). We talked about whats going on and what we could possibly look at trying after my travel is done. I would be ok with doing a few months of intense chemo if that means it wipes it out for 5-10 years instead of having to continue on a lower dose of something... Or maybe even going back in for surgery if that spot is large enough to get...

I want you all to really know that I feel fine. It is a fight that I have to keep fighting. I hope you can send any fighting or healing vibes my way when you can. I am open to receiving any of them.