Life After

So here I am - in my first week of not working.  So far it's been spent sleeping until 9 am, then watching Law & Order: SVU while checking Facebook, then lunch with friends, then a shot to build my white blood counts.  It's also been trying to adjust to wearing oxygen 24/7, and trying to figure out how to balance the rest I need with being active enough that I don't lose any more stamina or strength.  That's the tough one to figure out. 

The whole process is just weird - after all, I've worked steadily since I was 18.  Being without a job is scary and just odd.  I wonder how long it will be before I start climbing the walls?  Or will I become obsessed with seeing every episode of Law & Order in all of its incarnations? 

On top of all that, my CA-125 continues to rise, although the fluid around my lungs seems to have gone down significantly.  My oncologist wants me to try one more cycle of the Gemzar, and if the CA-125 hasn't gone down (and the nodule she's able to feel during my physical exam hasn't gotten smaller), then she is all ready to switch to yet another drug.

While I'm glad she's not waiting forever to try something new, the fact is we are running out of drugs.  And since starting the Gemzar, we have seen my lung capacity diminish to the point that I have to be on oxygen.  Since I'm unable to have any platinum drugs with any of these other drugs, it cuts our options in half.  And I'm not so sure I'm ok with just running through the drugs she has in mind then just saying that's it. 

I'm thinking maybe it's time to see about clinical trials again.

Last year when we went down to MD Anderson, my only options were trials that required me to be there every week, for 3 or so days a week.  That just wasn't an option with youngest son still in high school.  But youngest son is now in college.  Eldest son is also in a better place than he was last year.  Now I'm not working - so I could be there weekly if need be.  So we may be looking at going down to see if there are any trials I qualify for now. 

I worry that I've had too many lines of treatment - that there aren't any trials for women with such persistent ovarian cancer at MD Anderson right now.  But it is worth a try - it's worth seeing if there is anything that might affect this stubborn bitch trying to take over my body.  To see if I have more than the 8 - 12 months I would have left if I kept trying drug after drug that didn't work.  Because my goals haven't changed in the last two years.

I still have grandbabies to see born - and to hold.  That means lasting a helluva lot longer than another year.

Wish us luck.