Ochsner Oncologist

My new doctor is Dr. Cole, at Ochsner in New Orleans.  My West Clinic doc that has saved my life and gave me extra time with Momma trusts this man to take care of me.  Luckily, I think he is a good judge of character and Dr. Cole seems like a good doctor too.

So, what's the plan?  Well, as y'all know, the lymph node tumors in my neck and clavicle area have grown a tiny bit, but there doesn't seem to be any other spread.  Dr. Cole wants to get a new set of scans and look over everything, but he thinks it's time to switch to the next medicine.

That is scary, for various reasons, but Dr. Cole explained it in a way that sounded much more reassuring.  Just because the cancer is slow growing and not spreading out of the lymph nodes yet, doesn't mean we just let it sit there.  He wants to shrink what's there, rather than just let it sit.  So the next med on the list is his plan.

There is also a clinical trial that he wants to see if I'm eligible for.  It would use the next med that I'm going to take either way, and combine it with something new that may boost that med and make it work even better.  (Side note, I'm working on an idea for a foundation now...stay tuned for more thoughts on that.)

So that's everything in a nutshell.  A little more technical info for those of you interested in looking stuff up or whatever:

I was on letrozole and Ibrance.  Letrozole is what caused my joint pain, that many of you have seen the effects of when watching me walk around with my own special swagger.  So...getting off of that one soon might be nice (although I think it just switches for bone pain as a side effect so who knows lol)!  Years ago, before Ibrance was discovered, letrozole was the first med you take when your breast cancer spreads.  The clinical trials tested it plus the Ibrance, which ended up making it work even better. 

After letrozole, many people go to Faslodex, which is a monthly injection.  This is what I will be on soon, assuming my scans and everything still point to this as the best course.  Faslodex alone is what I would typically do....but they are also studying a medicine that might make Faslodex work better.  That doesn't have a name yet (just like some letters and numbers) but it's a bromodomain inhibitor.  (For comparison, Ibrance is a CDK2 inhibitor.....yeah they don't mean a whole lot to me either.)  Basically, they work at a cellular level.  So if I'm eligible for the trial, then I will get Faslodex and a bromodomain inhibitor.  Otherwise, just the Faslodex.  Looks like similar side effects possible to what I already was on, but I could have some of the other side effects that I didn't have before or some of the same.

I'll update more after I get scanned and discuss it with Doc again.  I don't have my scan appointment even scheduled yet, so be patient, I'll keep doing what I've been doing (letrozole and Ibrance) for now.  :)