It’s a short entry tonight, y’all. It’s been a rough day. I felt awful all day, and the doctor’s report didn’t help much. So, here’s what we’ve been waiting for:

The CT scan shows that the chemo pills are not working. There are bigger spots on my liver. There is also fluid in my left lung, in the right lung, and around my heart. The fluid around the heart is something new, but we don’t yet know if it necessarily means trouble.

The plan for now is: Thoracentesis #5, scheduled for Monday, August 27. How I feel afterward will determine what we do about the fluid around my heart. If I still feel awful, we’ll do another echocardiogram to see how much fluid there is and make a plan at that time. If I feel pretty good, then we’ll wait and watch. (The echocardiogram in July showed a little fluid around my heart, nothing to write home about, but there’s more now.)

The next new drug in my life will be gemcitabine, a cancer fighter that is administered via IV, once a week for 3 weeks, and then 1 week off. According to my oncologist, this drug has a good track record for working well with few side effects.

That’s the news. The good news is that, once again, there’s a plan.

Thanks for being here.

(Note to Auntie M: I'm sorry you heard bad news. I'm still kicking! Love you!)

¶ 6:13 PM