Cycle #11: Day 3

It has been a while since I have posted but frankly there is not much to report. So far, so good. Here is all I can think to share:

1. After Cycle #9 we did a brain + spinal MRI and the results were, for the first time (for these parts of my body), positive. And by positive I do not mean neutral, or no change. Rather, some of the lesions in my vertebrae have actually reduced in size. This is an important development as the spine in particular has been resistant to other treatments that I have done in the past. In fact, the last spinal MRI that I did, showed a couple of new, small lesions in my vertebrae, and that was after starting CVD. So actually seeing an improvement was very good. My next spinal MRIs are in early September and I will be sure to update with those results.
2. I have taken to swimming and biking on a stationary bike, and both are progressing nicely. I am getting stronger and my stamina is also increasing.
3. After Cycle #8 I did a CT that covered my pelvis, abdomen, chest, head, and neck- essentially everything from mid-femur and above. My doctor was extremely pleased as there were multiple sites that had clearly improved on the scans and no real worrisome developments elsewhere. For a tumour in bone to show improvement means the improvement has to be relatively significant as measuring size change in bones is not particularly easy or straightforward. My next CT scan is in early October, after Cycle #12, and I will be sure to update with those results.
4. My veins have become progressively more difficult for my nurses to find. I am told that this is a perfectly normal reaction to extended chemotherapy and there is very little that we, as patients, can do about it. The only real advice that I've received is to make sure that I am well hydrated before I come to the hospital, which is just good advice in general, so I try to follow that. Because veins have become an issue, I've asked that they leave the needle in my arm so that when I go for Day 2, they don't need to stick me again. It is sort of annoying leaving it in but they wrap it up and it's less of a hassle than watching a nurse try and find, and stick, a vein.
5. Surprisingly, my platelets are higher than when I started. I believe they are currently around 140K which also means that I have resumed taking Lovenox. I do not have any known blood clots but since I have had two major ones in the past, the doctors feel that resuming taking it is a good idea.

As I review this it appears that some of this is quite important and should have been shared in a more timely manner and I will be sure to keep this up more actively so that I don't miss anything important going forward.

Overall the plan is to keep going until CVD stops working or until it is compromising my health in other ways and should be ceased.