Up, Up, and Away!

This afternoon we had our tutorial on Karen's new med, Zykadia, which she will begin taking tonight two hours after dinner. Why wait a full two hours? Because this medication is all but certain to wreak gastrointestinal havoc on her, resulting in 'explosive' or 'propulsive' diarrhea. Personally, I'm hoping for the explosive kind since propulsive sounds as if we'd be seriously flirting with Karen jetting off the toilet and blasting through the ceiling, leaving the most unpleasant contrail ever in her wake. And on the walls.

The upside of propulsive diarrhea? The miracle of flight. Eat it, Icarus.

Actually, the GI issues are the least of it. This drug comes with all the standard kidney and liver monitoring along with the extra added attraction of possible heart arrhythmia. Fortunately, the arrhythmia is not all that likely but still...one more thing to add to the bio-terrorist watch list.

Karen's condition overall continues to decline. She is very fatigued and spends most of each day in bed, much of it sleeping. Her breathing is labored and she struggles to take a full breath. Conversation is challenging. Her cough is as bad as it has ever been, easily matching or exceeding the wracked hacking that was the signature feature of her condition when first diagnosed. More troubling, she has dropped another five pounds since just last Wednesday--that's not even a full week ago. Add in her previous drop and we're looking at about 12 pounds lost in just over two weeks. We will be tracking her weight closely in order to see if the Zykadia is working or not. Of course, the digestive issues that come with this drug make maintaining or gaining weight more challenging. So hooray for that.

Two-Face loves coin flips!

For those of you keeping score at home, this is Karen's third line of treatment. So we are getting down to it in terms of options. The numbers we're hearing on the drug's efficacy keep shifting around: today, with the actual drug rep in the oncologist's office, we were told that there's about a 52% response rate. So we are essentially looking at a coin flip. And who doesn't like a coin flip?

Proof I Am a Miserable Troll #342: Today as our tiny exam room filled up with more and more medical personnel to measure Karen's oxygen levels and such, I quipped "And two hard-boiled eggs." Blank stares all the way around. Not only did no one get my absolutely genius reference, none of them had even seen A Night at the Opera. I announced to one and all that they were "culturally illiterate." I believe I am now somewhat less beloved (if that is possible) at the oncology office. I will add it to the same list that includes the post office, three Safeway branches, Bank of America, and every Gymboree in the nation.