Stable Is Good

It feels good to know that I can participate in my treatment plan - that I have doctors who listen.

Before I started with my third regimen, I saw this article, To Survive Cancer, Live With It. It talks about "that the judicious use of drugs can be more effective than the intuitive approach of killing as much as you can." It is a great read. Do check it out.

When I showed this article to my doctors, they were skeptical in the beginning. My surgeon said it's possible but very risky. My oncologist totally rejected it. She was set on giving me two drugs that would mean an aggressive approach. I kind of battled with her explaining that my past two regimens that were supposed to be aggressive and effective in eliminating the cancer left me in a much worse condition than when I started with all my treatments. She explained her side, and we left her clinic set on her treatment plan. 

However, on my next visit, she was more open to the idea, and even stressed that we are now working on making it a stable disease. I am now on just one chemo drug, Xeloda, which is very convenient to take since it's taken orally. So far, it's doing its job effectively. Thank you, Jesus. 

I am very comfortable with this strategy since I wouldn't be too weak that I couldn't do much or think straight. I feel, I can live with this, and it does feel like, I can live with this for a long time. 

This approach was further confirmed when a good friend showed me a video of Kris Carr, a woman battling an incurable stage 4 cancer that has spread to her lungs, liver and kidney. There is no standard treatment available for her, only experimental approaches. She was initially advised by her doctor to undergo a triple organ transplant. She thought, that was crazy! Who wouldn't?! Until she met a doctor from Harvard who told her, "Let's not do anything. Let us observe how the cancer behaves and moves. Find a way to live with the cancer." Fortunately, what she has is a slow-moving cancer. So she was led to a major lifestyle change - changed her diet, habits, way of thinking and feeling. She goes to the hospital for her regular scans, and for her last check-up, they saw that the tumors decreased in size. She's been living with the disease for eleven years. Check out this video,

None of us lives a perfect life, but we find ways to live beautifully through the imperfections. It's called faith and grace. I am content right now with my life. It would be great to hear from my doctors, "You're now cancer-free." But right now, I am grateful to God for "calm and stable." Stable is good.