Laralyn McWilliams

Immunotherapy Bingo

Someday I’ll hit the jackpot and have a whole week without having to go to the doctor or have unexpected procedures or scans. This isn’t that week.

I’ve been having what I politely call “stomach Issues” for a little over a month now. I was taken off treatments last week and put back on steroids until I (hopefully) get treatments again next week. They didn’t do the trick, though, hence last Friday’s CT scan and thankfully lack of whammies for being hospitalized.

The CT was clear but even on steroids my stomach’s not much better. I’ve lost a little over 10 pounds in the last three weeks, and we have to figure out why. So this week I get to have a combination endoscopy and colonoscopy! The only way to improve a colonoscopy, I expect, is to combine it with invading both ends… and the only way to top THAT is to do the pre-procedure purge when your stomach has already been doing that same thing for over a month. Whee!

It’ll be good to figure out what’s causing this and potentially stop it. We’re also doing blood work frequently to try to see if my immune system is attacking my thyroid and/or adrenal glands. Dr. Ani said last week that I’ve had so many of the potential immunotherapy side effects–I feel like I’m winning some kind of cosmic immunotherapy bingo!
bingo
Sincerely, though, I do feel like I’m winning. This came up on as a Facebook memory from last year: shaving our heads before I started on chemo. I had Stage III lung cancer a year ago, I’m still here, and so far the trial is working. Thinking about that will get me through the next week, the week after, and hopefully many weeks to come.

hair

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