Cycle 2, Day 1

Follow-up went well. It was nice to have such a short morning at the hospital for a change! Did all the basic labs, got new meds, and chatted with the doc. It sounds like for now, until we have more information on how my bones are doing, we're going to keep going with the Zometa. Dr. Gounder didn't seem to have any reason why we shouldn't do it for now, he admitted that my type of cancer is not his particular specialty, but it sounds like Zometa is used in many ways for many types of cancers and other diseases with a lot of success, so for now, we're going to stick with it. If my next set of scans shows us that for whatever reason the Zometa either isn't doing anything, or is actually interfering in some way, we'll reassess my need for it. They're going to coordinate it so that I can receive the Zometa here in NY at the same time as my regular appointments, so that I don't have to mess around with scheduling at Hopkins in between. So that's helpful.

Next appointment is Nov 7th, it sounds like that one will be much the same as this one. On Nov 21st, we finally have the big day: the next round of scans that will hopefully show us if we're making progress or not. I FEEL good- no coughing, no feeling of tightness in my chest to suggest that the tumors are growing. The pain in my back has actually started to recede slowly, it's more of a dull nagging ache than a sharp pain now. So... fingers crossed and keep praying.

Overall, things are good. My hair is growing back. I'm staying active. No changes in my weight, appetite, or overall health. I rode on horseback 15 miles through the mountains this weekend, and other than a little muscle soreness, I felt fantastic afterwards. I'm going to try to carefully increase my exercise, now that my back is feeling better- the exercise actually seems to help, not hurt, so I'm going to walk more (now that the weather is nice, I'm sure Ruff will appreciate some nice long walks at work during the day), ride more, and maybe try some gentle yoga for stretching.