Time flies...

I can't believe I haven't posted since October 19. Where has the time gone? And how did it get to be mid-December???

We had a wonderful time on Azamara's Quest, a 695-passenger ship owned by Royal Caribbean/Celebrity. We visited many islands that were new to us including St. Vincent, Tobago, Virgin Gorda, Grand Turk, and St. John. We went to the beach in four ports, went snorkeling in three and met some wonderful people onboard. We had some complaints about the management of the ship services, but overall it's tough to complain when you are swimming in the blue sea and dining under the stars in late November/early December while it's snowing at home. The new underwater housing for my digital camera worked very well except that I couldn't see the screen underwater when it was cloudy, so I just shot picture after picture. I actually captured some fish on film using that method! When I finally upload the photos to my online album, I'll post the link here for those who may be interested.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Dr. Keohan was concerned about some of the growing nodules in my lungs and sent me a month early for a chest CT scan. Unfortunately, several of the nodules have grown to larger than 1 cm and I have an increasing number bilaterally (in both lungs). She now believes they are metastases and has recommended that I begin chemo treatment with a single agent called gemcitabine. It is a treatment that would allow me to continue my quality of life for the most part, with the severest side effects being thinning (vs. loss) of hair, flu-like symptoms for 24 hours following treatment, and mild nausea and vomiting. She hopes that will result in shrinkage or stabilization of the mets. If not, she will then add another agent, and the full range of side effects associated with chemotherapy will be unavoidable.

From what I've read thus far, surgery remains the only way to "cure" LMS and any mets. Chemo is an attempt to stablize the cancer or put it into remission. Should the tumors grow, at some point we will attempt to remove them surgically if possible. Right now, she is most concerned with allowing me to maintain my quality of life (as are we) as long as possible.

I had hoped to avoid this scenario until after the holidays, but reality is what it is and I must deal with it. The plan is to have a port implanted in my chest sometime in the next three weeks so the treatments can be administered through it rather than through an IV in my arm. As soon as that is finished, I will begin a three-week cycle: one 90-minute treatment once a week for two weeks followed by one week off. After two months or so, I will have another chest CT scan to check my progress. CT scans of my abdomen and pelvis will now be done in six-month intervals (which is about on schedule since my scans began in January 2006 and the standard is every three months for two years, every six months for three and then annually).

I don't want to look too far forward and try to provide a timetable or a prognosis at this time. We will begin with the gemcitabine treatment and go from there. I'll be certain to post here when I start and how things go. As always, I thank all of you for your support and your good thoughts. Just knowing that I have such wonderful friends makes this easier to bear. I would make one request: when you have a moment in the coming months, please check in on Ed. This is very difficult for him and he sometimes gets lost in the background. If you want to send him a note and don't have his e-mail address, just drop me a line and I'll send it on.

I'm sending all of you our warmest wishes for a very merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2008.