The Next Mountain to Climb

About three weeks ago we posted and Kristi told you that she’d be starting two chemo-like therapies, one for the sarcoma and one for the lymphoma. And she had just begun a drug that was supposed to help with nerve pain. For those of you interested in details: Rituximab: an infusion for the lymphoma Votrient: pills taken daily for the sarcoma Cymbalta: a drug used mostly for depression but also prescribed for nerve pain, often for osteoarthritis or fibromyalgia As far as the pain, the Cymbalta has had little effect. They told her to give it three to four weeks, but her pain has not subsided at all.  She also began the Votrient, increasing the dose each week. She will get to four pills per day and then possible back off to fewer depending on side effects and effectiveness. The side effects of the Votrient are not too bad. If you look them up, she deals with the basic ones to some degree. The biggest side effect though is fatigue — and we’re not totally sure if the fatigue is from sev...

It’s been a while since our last update. Jim and I took a fantastic vacation in June. We are both thankful that the doctors agreed to a short break from treatment in order for us to go. While we did have a great time, I was experiencing pain on a continual basis. Just in recent days I told Jim that it seems to be slightly worsening. It’s hard to tell exactly. Now that we are home I will once again be starting chemo treatments.  I’ll be receiving two different types of chemo. The first is 4 weekly infusions of a traditional style chemo that is meant to target my lymphoma. We had hoped that it would remain stable for many years before needing treatment, but it has decided to rear its ugly head in the last few months. Hopefully, this treatment will knock it back into submission. The second is a daily tablet that I will take at home. This one is meant to target the sarcoma. The chemo I had this spring was somewhat helpful in keeping the tumors in my lungs from growing much, but it didn...