Another Journey

I probably shouldn't allow this blog to go silent, because I seem to only ever post bad news. Anyway, I wanted you all to know what has been happening the last few weeks. My wound that had become infected after my surgery finally healed over in the middle of November, about the same time that I finally got approved to start working on my doctoral dissertation. Those were both items that took way too long to accomplish, but I was glad to finally have them done and out of the way. Of course, get candidacy status only meant that I now had the privilege to write a dissertation! That is going to be quite a long process, too.

Unfortunately, it looks like I have another journey to embark on with my health as well. Just before Thanksgiving, my back began to hurt again. I had my regular 3-month checkup two weeks ago and the CT scan showed that tumor is continuing to grow next to my sacrum spine. We had treated a tumor on the spine with radiation in May, and that tumor is smaller. This growth is in the soft tissue behind the bone. I had a PET scan and it did not show any other areas of concern, so we are going to try and treat the tumor locally.

Since I already had radiation treatment in the area, my doctors are recommending proton beam radiation therapy, which should reduce damage to the areas that were already treated. In addition, I am going to try an oral chemotherapy treatment that is supposed to sensitize the tumor to the radiation. I took this drug, along with others, in 2011 and I did not do very well. We’ll see how it goes, and may drop it if I have a bad reaction again.

It’s going to take two or three weeks to get the treatment ready, so it will probably be early January before I start. It is my plan to work throughout my treatment. I don’t know my schedule yet, so I do not know whether I will have to be out for the actual treatment, which will be five days a week for 4 weeks. My doctor is hopeful that I will be in remission at the end of the four weeks. At that point, we will discuss whether starting a round of preventative chemotherapy would be a good idea.

Obviously, this isn’t great news, but I am glad that the cancer once again appears to only be active in one spot. I’m also happy that I will be able to go home to Maine to see my family, before I start treatment. At this time, I don’t want for anything, because I have such supportive and generous family, friends and colleagues.

Thank you for all the ways that you have supported me over the last six years. It was this time six years ago that I knew something was wrong and that I needed to get to a doctor soon. All along the way, I have been supported by so many people with your generosity, words and acts of encouragement and your prayers. I hear regularly from my parents and others about how many people are praying for me on a daily basis. Thank you so much, all of you!