Health Updates

I haven't updated in quite a while--which should be taken as a good sign. I tend not to update if things are going as planned! Indeed, we've all been grateful for how smoothly the last few chemo rounds have gone. The last cisplaten/doxorubicin round (started 9/24) was especially remarkable: like night and day, comparing to my experience the first time. Amazingly, even through the period of lowest energy and discomfort, I felt at peace-- and managed physically much better too: very little nausea and almost no extra counter-medications needed during or after. It's hard to say what made the experience so much better but I suspect having begun some meditation practice since the first round and knowing a little more what to expect both played a significant role. It hasn't all been smooth sailing though, as I alluded to in the title... when you're dealing with drugs as powerful as those in chemo, the side effects can hardly be called "side" anything. At times,...

I'm just getting out of chemo round 3 and doing pretty well. I just thought I'd share the treatment schedule for those who were wondering. The chemo switches between two cocktails: 1) doxorubicin/ cisplaten, and 2) methotrexate. The latter is a little easier to tolerate so there's a shorter recovery time. This is the plan for now but we were warned it's very tentative: D/C (3-wk recovery) M (1-wk) M (1-wk) <= just finished this one! D/C (3-wk) M (1-wk) M (2-wk) surgery (2-wk) M (1-wk) D/C (2-wk) M (1-wk) D/C (2-wk) M The difficult undertakings in the world all start with what is easy. The great undertakings in the world all begin with what is small. So yes, continuing on the taoist theme- we're taking it one step at a time. Another step worth highlighting, though a couple weeks past now: hair loss. I'm officially a bald lady! I was lucky to have a wonderful crew of visitors at the time that my hair started falling out more heavily, so it m...

I've taken much solace in Taoism and, though it strays from my usual expository style, I thought I'd share a thought it inspired: I observe that people often use terms like "struggle" or "fight" in reference to coping with cancer. Yet, my goal is to struggle as little as possible; and rather, to calmly endure. The real challenge I see, the only aspect truly under my own control, is to quell my fears - and the pumped-up warrior mindset does not lend itself to that end. Thus, as with much of life, the ideal to me is not to try; just to do.

Jane got the call for the chemo Monday evening (8/14) and by 5 am last Tuesday, the actual chemo was underway. The insertion of the lines into the ports was pretty unpleasant but the presence of her dad and Francis and Molly helped her through the worst. She arrived home Thursday evening, very weak and tired, but now, beginning the second week after starting chemo, she is much stronger, walking around the house without crutches, and focusing on maintaining weight. Francis had to return to Columbus on Saturday to begin his studies but he'll be visiting again soon. Since Francis left, Samm and Yihana and Molly have visited too and sweet Kyra spends a lot of time with Jane sleeping on her bed. - Betsy

I had a dual-headed port placed on Friday and the operation went well. A port is a small disc that's implanted under the skin in the upper chest and connects to a large vein; it's used to safely administer the chemo drugs and keeps the likelihood of infection very low. The chemo itself is scheduled to start tomorrow or Tuesday, depending on hospital traffic. And just for fun, I thought I'd note two more new acquisitions: super short hair and... a dog!! She's a very sweet 2-year old foxhound who was rescued from North Carolina - her name is Kyra (kee-ra). (Thanks to Peggy Booher for the photo)

We were scheduled at John's Hopkins just in time for what they call a "multi-disciplinary clinic" which is held once every two weeks. On these days, you can meet with the different members of your cancer team at the same time. My team is: 1) Dr. Meyer - medical oncologist, managing my chemotherapy 2) Dr. Morris - surgical oncologist, later managing my surgery Both doctors were very warm and patient with our extensive questions. I'll briefly summarize what we learned: Consultation with Dr. Meyer The slides with my tumor sample had just arrived to John's Hopkins so they did not yet have an independent assessment of the pathology/ diagnosis; however, Dr. Meyer noted that he knows and trusts my doctors at Mt. Sinai.  Assuming our second opinion does agree, Dr. Meyer confirmed the cure rate for this diagnosis (70-75%) and the rough treatment schedule (8-9 months in total). My chemotherapy cocktail will consist of three drugs: doxorubicin, cisplaten, and met...

The tumor has been identified as chondroblastic osteosarcoma;  not one of the 3 we had expected from the initial report. It does create cartilage ("chondroblastic") which is why it was difficult to identify but it's actually a form of primary bone cancer ("osteosarcoma"). This is of course not the news we were hoping for, but we had some additional tests yesterday and determined that it is localized, i.e., has not metastasized or spread to other parts of the body! If those tests had not been clear, there would be very little chance of survival, so this was a HUGE relief. Dr. W, the surgeon covering for Dr. F during his vacation, explained that the cure rate for a localized osteosarcoma at my age is ~70-75%. It is generally somewhat lower chances for osteosarcoma in the hip bone, but he said mine is also smaller than most, so it may balance out to around the same odds. As he emphasized, the key being: the majority of cases are cured. (We will get throug...