Nothing big to report, bu I'm doing very well. Amazingly so, so I wanted to share that with you.
The sessions sap my energy and, although I generally am more productive towards the end of the three weeks. I think I was still feeling the effects of pneumonia through the first round of treatment, so it was atypical. I still manage to spend 12 hours sleeping most days. The pain that I recognize comes, I am sure, from the de-conditioning due to my low rate of activity--knees, lower back (though the lumbar section lit up like a Christmas tree on the PET). I've resumed exercises but, of course, tire quickly. I can manage the wonderful series of stretch exercises taught to me 40 years ago by Ruth Bender, and a few core exercises each day. I can't lose what I've worked so hard to maintain in my ability to walk, which seems to continue to be a major Achilles heel for me, cancer notwithstanding. I recognized early on that my job in this treatment endeavor was to keep my body fed, watered, and as healthy as possible Never realized how hard I would have to work at it. I've lost 20 pounds in all the places I didn't want to lose weight; my appetite has diminished greatly.
I am extremely grateful that I qualified for Keytruda and anxiously await the results of testing in January. Since Dr. Dayton wasn't sure I would see Christmas without treatment, I'm feeling healthy, well, and lucid. Something good is surely happening. If all I gain are the past two and a half months able to do what I do, it is a great blessing. The "alert" has opened up communications with Ralph, you and Jim (in the plural--including June and Carolyn), my kids. I think we've gained a different level of understanding about each other and it has been a total revelation to me. All things considered, I'd rather NOT have cancer, but . . . it is what it is, and I'll make the best of it.