Taking a break

It’s taken me a little longer than usual to write an update, but there’s no medical reason, just laziness. I am enjoying my two week break from treatment and avoiding the hospital. My rash is still around, but it’s much more tolerable. The facial acne is actually starting to go away, though for some reason there is one stubborn pimple on my lower eyelid that won’t go away. The rash is still around on my chest and back – but I haven’t had a lot of reasons to bare these areas yet. Other than fatigue, I’m feeling pretty good. I’m able to eat and drink so no dehydration. Still have diarrhea, but that’s a given and I resigned to the fact that it’s not going away anytime soon. We are hoping the break from the Erbitux will help slow down my system, but so far it hasn’t happened.

I met with Dr. Lange before my last Erbitux treatment. He was still very happy with the CT scan results, but like me, cautiously optimistic that the Erbitux is the reason why. We both know that the telltale scan will be the one I have in January 2006, at the 15 month marker. However, we both agreed that this was a milestone and a reason to celebrate.

We then proceeded to have a longer discussion about the future. Since Erbitux is still unproven in treatment of my cancer, we are basically making things up as we go along. One of the benefits of monoclonal antibodies is that medically there is no reason to take a break from them, unlike chemotherapies. However, we all agreed that I needed some time off to regain my energy, get the rash to clear up, and to get on with my life. Dr. Lange understood that 1) the rash is not so insignificant and that it effects my state of mind as well as my self esteem; 2) I need to be able to make some future plans, so knowing that I will have 2 weeks off after every 8 weeks was important to me; and finally 3) the weekly treatments are effecting my ability to do my job, specifically my ability to travel. There’s not much we can do about number 3, so I am hoping that as time goes on I will regain the strength I need to make some of my international trips. All in all it was a good discussion and we’ll meet again after my next 8 week cycle and scan to see where things stand.

I do have a few trips on the horizon, all in the US, but it’s a start. We have a work meeting in Marco Island, FL the first week of May and the following weekend I’ll be going to Los Angeles for 2 days for another meeting. I’m looking forward to these trips and will be watching my sun exposure and energy levels. I’m sure all will be just fine.

Until later…