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The Steinhaus Family
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The Steinhaus Family
I’m glad to share that there’s more good news to report. My CA 19-9, which we’ve been tracking as one indication of disease burden and treatment effectiveness, continues to drop and is now down to 67.6. That’s a number I didn’t expect to see so soon and suggests that treatment is continuing to work in my favor. It’s also giving me the mental boost I need right now.
Oxaliplatin, which has been the most effective chemotherapy drug, is starting to affect my bone marrow. Because of that, my oncologist is recommended a 20% reduction in the medication to avoid having to delay future treatments, which is frustrating but necessary. We did not expect this because my neuropathy (also affected by this medication) had been much better last cycle. The balancing act of fighting cancer while keeping my body resilient enough to continue treatment is ongoing.
On the bright side, treatment on Monday came with the least side effects I’ve had yet. With the new dosage, I felt for the first time that I could continue with additional rounds of chemo if my doctor thought that was a good idea to shrink the tumors as much as possible before moving me into the maintenance phase with different drugs. Our tentative plan now is to stay on chemo until the benefits plateau or either too-low blood counts or increased neuropathy mean I have to stop. From there, the next steps would involve enrolling in an immunotherapy trial and potentially using high-frequency ultrasound to target the tumors in my liver. My oncologist says he sees a path to being able to do both at the same time, which is different than he said on our last conversation.
Next week, I’ll be meeting with my oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering to get her perspective on these options and make sure we’re moving in the right direction. For now, I’m focusing on the positive momentum—each step forward counts, even when it comes with its own hurdles.
Elyse Steinhaus
about 1 year ago
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