A distant ship smoke on the horizon

Trips abroad: 1
Scans/biopsies: 4
Chemo sessions: 4 and continuing
Results: 50/50

Been a little busy in the last expanse of time from last post to this one. Some of it completely amazing, and other days less so. Seems to be the new balance of my life.

Just last week I did the first session in the newest chemotherapy round; continuing with the indefinite nature of systematic treatment. This was following a whole set of scans from brain to bottom in just the last week's time.

Results for the most part tell us that there is very little change from the last set of scans. Which is slightly disappointing to me. I was enjoying the shrinkage that was happening with every chemo round before this. It boosted my hope and expectations. We seem to be in a bit of a standstill at the moment. With the unfortunate addition of a new lung tumor which has been causing its own other issues. I've had a persistent cough and ragged throat for a couple months now. We now know that this is at least partly caused by a small tumor in my upper left lung that has also created a small amount of collapse. This explains the inability to get a full breath and my easy tiredness.

We had a biopsy done through an endoscopic bronchoscopy on Friday. They said I should expect the results from that by the end of this coming week. Really all they want to know is if it is a new metastasis or something else entirely. My expectation (and the odds really) is that it is a metastasis. Which might drive us toward a conversation about this continued chemotherapy or the possibility of switching up the treatment. I am planning on coming in to the conversation with both my oncologist and the pulmonologist with no expectations and ready to learn more.

I have things to say about my trip and finding the new rhythms in my life recently. But those will have to come in another post when it's a little earlier and my brain isn't punching out.