Change in Treatment?

First things first, the rash over the catheter that runs from my port to the vein is looking better. Turns out it was probably infected after all.

The bigger deal is that it is starting to look like this chemo cocktail isn't working as well as we'd like. Keith and I went in for a visit with my breast surgeon today. It was meant to be a quick check on my rash, but I had noticed some skin thickening on my breast a couple days ago. This was worrisome because the skin had been getting better. So, what it seems like, is that while the visible cancer on the skin appears be almost completely cleared up, the tumor in the breast isn't shrinking much at all. According to the ultra sound the tumor is about the same (maybe slightly smaller), but the skin thickening is a sign that something is going on. The doctor thinks that it is the result of some blockage in the lymphatic system.

As usual, I'm glad to have him on the case. He's got a call into my oncologist to talk to her about what is going on. His take is that it might be time to switch chemos. I'm all for it. While there may well come a time when I'm happy to just have things not growing, right now I want things shrinking!

I'm scheduled for chemo this coming Tuesday. I might get it or I might not. There is no way I'll get a new chemo on Tuesday. It takes time to get that kind of thing approved. I guess I'll just wait and see what my oncologist says on Tuesday. I honestly wouldn't mind another round. I know that probably sounds dumb but, I hate the idea of not having any chemo for several weeks while all the logistics get worked out.

The upside of all this is that I just noticed the change last Wednesday and I just happened to have appointments with the surgeon on Friday and the oncologist on Tuesday, so the ball got rolling really quickly. In addition to that I've already talked about what my next chemo cocktail would be with my oncologist and the specialist at UCSF, so it should be a pretty straight forward decision. I say that now, but who knows...

One thing all this crap has forced me to deal with is uncertainty. Will I need to take Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off to recuperate from chemo? I won't know until Tuesday afternoon. Urgh. I hate that! I'm much more comfortable when I know the plan!