A Return To Kansas City

It’s been an encouraging past few days. With the exception of fatigue, side effects continue to be minimal from last week’s treatment. On Thursday I had a chest x-ray and an appointment with my pulmonologist. The x-ray showed that my lungs had minimal fluid buildup since the left lung was drained three weeks ago. This is a great sign because now we can focus 100% on the cancer as long as the fluid remains under control. As long as I have cancer there is always the potential for fluid to accumulate in the heart and lungs; however, once the cancer begins to shrink, any fluid should dissipate.

Since I continue to feel good and don’t have any upcoming doctor appointments, I have returned to Kansas City. It’s certainly great to be back and I’m looking forward to working in the office for at least a few days this week.

My next round of Keytruda (immunotherapy treatment) is scheduled for Thursday, April 20 and will continue to be administered every three weeks. Following the third infusion I will undergo a battery of tests to determine if the drug is working. This will be a significant milestone. If it works, we will probably continue with the current plan and there will be time and flexibility in my favor. At this point I’m not thinking about the scenario in which it doesn’t work. I’m going to leave that to my medical team. Fortunately, along the way, there will be minor signs that can provide some guidance on the effectiveness of my treatment. As stated previously, if my lungs and heart continue to be free of fluid that could be a sign that treatment is working. Additionally, if I continue to feel good and have minimal pain, that will also be encouraging.

Now that my life and health has stabilized to some extent I don’t expect to have as much news every week. Therefore, I expect that the blog will be updated less frequently. For now I expect to have a new blog post uploaded at the end of April following the second round of treatment and an appointment with the cardiologist. If something significant occurs I will definitely post an update as soon as possible, but hopefully things will be stable for the next few weeks.

My best course of action is to remain positive, maintain a healthy lifestyle, get plenty of rest, and pray. Maureen and I continue to feel the impact of the support and prayers that everyone has provided. I have come a long way since I was taken to the emergency room in February. Part of it is due to my body’s willingness to fight and much of it is from the prayers and support.