Halaven

I had my first dose of Halaven today. It was given with premeds of Decadron (steroid) and Aloxi for nausea. I continue the Decadron at 12mg per day for three days starting the day after chemo. The Aloxi is supposed to deal with nausea for 72 hours.

I'll post more as the days proceed.

New chemo

Tomorrow I start my new treatment, Halaven (eribulin). I also found a good article on WebMD called Breast Cancer Drug Eribulin Extends Survival.

Halaven was very recently studied in metastatic breast cancer and approved by the FDA. I am most worried about the side effect of my peripheral neuropathy worsening, when it has improved so much over the past ten months but hasn't completely resolved. You can be sure I will keep Dr G posted if I develop more numbness in my feet!

Other side effects include the usual: low white (82%) and/or red cell counts (58%), fatigue (54%), nausea (35%) etc. 45% had hair loss, but this is the least of my concerns. I've been bald before...

Here's hoping for a highly effective and very tolerable treatment.

The end of the holidays

Today is the last day of the annual round of Jewish holidays. From Rosh Hashanah (two days) through Yom Kippur (one really long day) to Sukkot (two days at the beginning and two days at the end of the week), it's a lot of praying, singing, and eating.

I'm glad I've had the energy to cook, pray, eat and socialize for these few weeks. Our annual sukkah party was a lot of fun. More than 40 people showed up and we got a couple of photos with just about everyone. The Seattle weather has cooperated and it's been unfailingly sunny for weeks on end.

Now i'm ready to take down the sukkah, clean up the yard and start a cover crop in my raised garden beds. On to the rains!

Scan results and new plan

The results of yesterday's scans show I have one new tiny brain met (3mm), two slightly larger liver mets,  and my tumor marker went up a few points. The Afinitor+Aromasin+Faslodex+Avastin combo appears to have stopped working. 

Dr G wants to stop the Afinitor, start me on eribulin (Halaven) and continue the Aromasin, Faslodex and Avastin. His thinking is that my cancer responded well to taxanes, except for the eventual neuropathy. Eribulin works in the same way as taxanes, hopefully without that toxicity.

Eribulin is given via IV push or five minute infusion, two weeks on and one week off in a 21 day cycle with the usual chemo side effects. Avastin is given every other week. It appears I will be tethered to the chemo chair for a while. Hopefully I can try to coordinate the schedules. Eribulin is a newish drug, recently approved for metastatic breast cancer.

More later, as I process this latest bump in my personal cancer merry-go-round. 

Just when I had gotten used to having hair again!

Bob was snuggling with me when I took this pic.

Our sukkah

Isn't it beautiful?

Free haircuts for B Ca survivors

Okay, this is one "pink" thing I can get behind - a free haircut for breast cancer survivors at JC Penney. Thanks to the Cheap Bastard's Guide to Seattle for this tip. (I only hope they don't make you prove that you had breast cancer by asking to see your scars...)

JC Penney will also make a $1donation for the first 50,000 cuts to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Now that's the way to go -- support survivors, women currently in treatment, and give money to research.

October and pink

It's October 1st and the annual onslaught of "pink" cause-related marketing has begun.

There are too many ploys to get consumers to part with money in exchange for breast cancer pink-ribbon themed stuff. Sunday's newspaper was filled with pink-colored coupons advertising all kinds of products claiming to give a donation to a breast cancer organization in exchange for a purchase.

I HATE this time of year.

Buying pink-ribbon merchandise does very little to help find a cure for breast cancer. If you really want to help, consider making a donation straight to a cause you support.

If you must buy the pink ribbon stuff, please Think Before You Pink.

And don't buy me the pink socks, or the pink yogurt, or any other pink ribbon junk.

Just help the scientists find a real cure for breast cancer. Soon.

cure magazine feature

I was interviewed for the recent cure magazine feature on living with metastatic breast cancer.

FEATURE STORY
The Estrogen Effect: New Ways to Treat Hormone-Positive Breast Cancer
BY HEATHER L. VAN EPPS, PHD

PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 13, 2012

Patients with ER-positive breast cancer have more potential treatments with new therapies and combinations.

In the late 1970s, treatment of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer was revolutionized by the introduction of the drug tamoxifen. Since then, a multitude of successful new hormone-based (endocrine) drugs have followed. But despite this formidable arsenal, not all patients respond to these drugs, and many who do respond eventually relapse.

This was the case for 53-year-old Seattle resident Jill Cohen. In 2002, doctors discovered that her breast cancer—initially diagnosed as early-stage disease in 1998—had returned and spread to her bones. Cohen is alive thanks to a series of hormone therapy drugs.

“I feel extraordinarily lucky,” Cohen says. “I have long outlived the statistical odds.”

To read the rest of the article, or to request a copy, click here. CURE Magazine is widely available in oncologists' offices and treatment centers.

Gmar hatima tova

Yom Kippur, the great Jewish day of repentance, begins in just a few hours. I wish those who are fasting an easy fast. And may you be sealed in the Book of Life.

Fall has begun

Barely two days after we finished celebrating the new year, fall has hit Seattle. It's cool and grey today, even a little rain is spritzing. I'm dealing with my end of summer blues by baking a zwetchsgen kuchen (plum cake). Basically a shortbread cookie dough with sliced plums, it tastes seasonally of the moment. Thanks to H for sending her husband R's mother's recipe, which halved beautifully.

Now what will I do with the rest of the plums?

Our holiday was not as lively this year. Rik didn't feel well, and so I went to synagogue and on to lunch with friends. I had two specific goals for services this year: I wanted to hear the shofar blown, and I wanted to be able to make the full prostration before God, which is only performed on Rosh Hashanah. It is perhaps the only time during the year that Jews surrender themselves physically, acknowledging God's sovereignty. As I continue this dance with metastatic cancer, I've learned over the years that I have no control over how it rules my life. I had to learn to surrender, at least sometimes.

In Genesis 18:20-21, Abraham argues with God for the salvation of Sodom and Gomorrah, insisting that even one good person would make it worthwhile. But in Genesis 22:2, Abraham submits to God's request to take his son Isaac up to the mountain. Read this short drash for an interpretation of why sometimes Jews argue and sometimes we surrender.

On to the next holiday: g'mar chatima tova, may we be sealed in the Book of Life.

Yemenite shofar