Special Snowflake

Today was my six month check up at the cancer clinic.

I live with cancer.  The type of cancer I have is not (currently) considered curable, but it is indolent (slow growing) and it impacts my body in many ways.

My diagnosis was in 2011 and I spent that year in a constant round of tests, stress and treatments.  I was the first person in BC to benefit from the Rituxamab maintenance protocol, mainly because my oncologist at the time developed it and fought to get me on it.  He said he was seeing remission of up to 6 years. 

I got that six years.  And then it came back.

By that time, having already had chemo, I was eligible for one of the new 'miracle' drugs, which I took for almost exactly one year before the adverse effects became so onerous I couldn't go on any more.

My care team took me off the Ibrutinib and let my body recover as much as it could, lining up the next drug in the queue, which unfortunately had pretty much an identical list of adverse effects.

But my numbers stayed good and we held off starting any kind of treatment.  While some of the adverse effects did eventually resolve, the muscle pain did not, which is why I started the pain treatments. 

This  morning I found out my numbers were still good, I'm still in remission.  Even better news is that there is now another drug that can be used to treat the type of cancer I have and she is willing to skip over the other one and go straight to the latest one - when it becomes necessary.

But the fact that I have been in remission for a year is pretty 'special snowflake' and adds to the data that some people, having taken Ibrutinib, actually stay in remission.  The research scientists are tracking the data to see if some people reach 'cure' - as in it never does come back.

I don't know if I can be one of those people, but the fact that the cancer is dampened down enough that I do not need to begin treatment now is very encouraging.

Behind our masks (we both wore masks) we smiled, and while we discussed the potential of 'cure', we are both well aware that it might come back.  So I will go through this all over again in six months.

On the other hand, it's a huge positive that I do not have to start another round of treatment in the middle of a pandemic.

I will be grateful for small mercies.

And yes, I did wear a mask, not because I think I have been exposed to the virus, but because my allergies are such I didn't want anyone in the waiting area to worry about  my coughing.  I also sanitized my hands when I got to the van, then thoroughly washed my hands when I got home.

Stay safe.  This virus is going to be around for a while.  Opening things up doesn't mean it has gone away, just that there are now beds in ICU for you.  Until the second wave hits.