It has been a long time dear reader since my last update. Mostly that was due to an absence of news. The June 2020 PET scan had showed effectively no change.

I had another PET scan in September 2020 and it showed a progression of the disease, a new spot had lit up on the liver.

After that negative result, we added Avastin back to my treatment to see if it would improve things. I experienced no new side effects from the addition of Avastin, but unfortunately the December scan showed no improvement either. This prompted us to change the treatment, replacing the Avastin with a different drug Cyramza that has a similar effect as what Avastin is supposed to do.

Last Friday I had the first scan after adding the Cyramza.  Today I discussed the results with my Oncologist. The results at this point are mixed. About half the sites showed lower activity and the other sites increased activity.

The Cyramza has been kicking my ass for the last 3 months. I used to start to feel normal about a week after treatment, but with the Cyramza added I barely start to feel normal in time for the next treatment.

My liver function tests are all good, so despite the cancer, it is functioning fine

(For the faint of heart, you may skip this next paragraph)

Generally I feel lousy every day. My appetite is non-existent which has had the result of helping me lose weight. I am closing in on my goal weight of 200lbs, after hitting a peak of 250 a year ago. I am nauseous almost all of the time, and diarrhea is far too common. My taste buds are all funky makine everyting that I eat taste odd.

So I will take a short break (skipping the next normally scheduled appointment) to give me a chance to recover some energy before we start pushing again. I have a colonoscopy to schedule and hopefully some minor surgery to address my hemorrhoid problem. Both of those require me to be off the chemo for a period of time before and after.