Trials and Tribulations
I'm actually surprised it's been as long as it has since my last post. I kept waiting to have something to tell everyone, but I really spent the last 3 months in a state of uncertainty. As I described in my last post, immunotherapy can cause inflammation of tumors which makes it appear as though they have grown, when in fact they haven't. So as I progressed through the summer and the scans every 6 weeks, they continued to show small amounts of growth, but still within the parameters of the study. My doctor kept saying that there was no reason to stop treatment because inflammation could still be playing a role. As you might be able to imagine, that never gave me a great sense of relief or confidence. That combined with the fact that I was then anticipating the next scan so soon made for an emotionally challenging summer. I hadn't had that sense of dread in a long time... but it was always there, in the background, letting itself be known....