This is just too perky for me

My gag reflex is kicking in. This woman has metastatic breast cancer and is successfully being treated by Ibrance according to her perky oncologist. It isn't news, it feels like an Ibrance commercial.

 

I have the urge to barf. I'm sorry but its true. And yes its that really expensive new treatment.

And my inner marketing person says this kind of news article is really a type of advertising. I am not saying that anyone in the video did anything wrong. But marketing comes in all forms. And Pfizer is making big bucks on Ibrance.

You can read that article here. Okay, my inner witchy cynic is showing this morning. Maybe I need a nap or something.

Happy Independence Day

Raspberry curd filling made with our own berries, local blueberries and white nectarines.

Update from Dr G

Rik and I saw Dr G last week. He wants to retest my lungs with another CT to make sure my pneumonia has ended. Also I think he wants to me take a blood test for pneumonia markers. We even talked about the possibility of the pneumonia vaccine to prevent another month like this.

As far as treatment goes, we have several options --

• Pembrolizumab trial (If I qualify. Usually they want someone with fewer pre-treatments and bone-only mets.)
• Testing my tumor for micro satellite instability (this is the very newest treatment)
• Choice of chemo: Taxol (paclitaxel, which I had one time, a few years ago), Ixempra (ixabepilone), or Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide, which I had during my original early stage cancer 16 years ago)

He wants to incorporate neuroprotective medicines. I'm not sure which meds he means, but the idea is to prevent further neuropathy in my feet and hands.

Mouth pain

I've posted before about ONJ (osteonecrosis of the jaw), a rotten side effect of taking too many bisphosphonates to strengthen my bones over the years, or in my case, too much Xgeva.

For the past ten days I've experienced annoying pain in my ONJ spot of exposed bone on the roof of my mouth. I saw the dentist, and she wasn't sure what might cause that pain. She doesn't think I need another root canal. The ONJ spot hasn't changed in appearance. So Dr Amy spoke to Dr G and together they decided I should have a CT of my mandible (jaw).

I had the CT and it revealed -- NOTHING. No tumor, no new ONJ, no nothing. But I still have the pain. I changed pain meds from Vicodin to fentanyl patches left from earlier this year. The fentanyl made me woozy and high at first; I didn't really sleep last night. But today I'm not woozy and the pain is gone. I see Dr Amy again next week.

I hate to judge myself on what to take, but since I have the fentanyl on hand and Dr G had prescribed it, I'll take it. And it works!

My AHA moment

A week or so ago, I did a live interview for Mutual of Omaha. They run public service-type announcements on television featuring regular people talking about their "AHA Moment."

MofO seems to want their interviewees to articulate something amazing, challenging, or out of the ordinary that somehow affected our lives in a big way. The employees travel around the USA seeking speakers and also interviewing passers-by. There is one person to interview both random folks and those who are prepared; one person to run the camera; one person as a greeter; and the driver of the van.

I wrote earlier that Gilda's Club Seattle had invited their members to speak, and I said yes. It's a good thing too, because the other person who agreed woke up feeling unwell and Anna Gottlieb, the founder and executive director of GCS, rushed over to the Seattle Center to tell her AHA Moment about deciding to start a Gilda's Club here.

You can view my story here and Anna's here. Remember to turn up the volume!

If you like my little video (I got on my personal hobbyhorse about the government's lack of funding for advanced cancers), please feel free to share it with others.

To paraphrase from Anna, you too can pursue a dream against all odds, and make your dream come true.