Not sure if this should be titled - A New Year With Cancer, or a New Year Without Cancer. I just had a round of scans and they came out clean. No cancer. The big news on this, is that I am taking a break from all cancer treatment. I am having some issues with Xeloda and Avastin. I fear that my hands are permanently messed up from the Xeloda, but my doctor assures me that it is temporary. (I struggled to open the syrup bottle yesterday for my son's waffle.) Avastin just wreaks havoc on your sinuses. Getting up in the morning can be a bit painful, sometimes it is bloody too; just depends on how dry your sinuses get.
Back to the 'With or Without' issue. So I am on a break. My cancer isn't showing up, but the drugs I am on can linger in your system for quite some time. So one could say that I am doing fine, return to normal life! However, Metastatic disease is so incredibly tricky. Apparently, it can just hide. Maybe for weeks, maybe for years. My doctor has no idea. As it is, I am what you could call an outlier. I don't seem to follow any statistics. I first had breast cancer at age 24, and have bucked all trending data since then. Both good and bad data. Once a woman is diagnosed with Stage 4 Breast Cancer, she lives on average 2.5 years. It has been 2.75 years for me, and I am still kicking.
So, will this be a year with or without cancer. Right now it is has started off well. Just hoping that it stays that way.
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