"In the Face of Uncertainty, There is Nothing Wrong with Hope"

First, the bad....In early May of this year, I heard the words - you have CANCER.  This was followed by more scary words like inoperable - extensive lymph node involvement - treatment to extend life - chemotherapy.  I'm listening to all this and thinking HOLY CRAP! BUT I FEEL GOOD TODAY! MY BRAIN IS GOING TO EXPLODE!  WHAT THE F#*CK!!!   There was silence as I tried to think of something to say to the doctor on the other end of the telephone.  The old sleeping through life me was ready to say "Thank you for calling"  but I was a now fully awake - as I recall, I said something like "WOW, I wasn't expecting that" and quickly got off the phone so I could find someplace to hide and to process the shock and terror of my diagnosis.  I stayed that way pretty much for the next couple of months.

Now the good....I am being treated with an immune therapy regiment as a first line treatment- a drug called Nivolumab (Opdivo is the Bristol-Myers Squibb name) that had just been approved by the FDA in March.  I have had 8 rounds of  this new type of chemotherapy over the last 16 weeks, and so far so good!  The drug works by boosting my own immune system to keep the cancer contained, basically to my left lung and a couple of adjacent lymph nodes. 

When I went on line for information about this treatment, there was statistical stuff about the drug trials, and a couple of first person accounts on the drug maker's website, but little else.  Since I have recently emerged from diagnosis shell-shock, I decided to start writing about my experience with Nivolumab and LIVING with lung cancer.

Now for the crazy....my first piece of advice if you are new to Nivolumab, start taking a daily dose of Loratadine (Claritin) otherwise you are in for a wickedly itchy rash after a couple of treatments.  If you already have the rash, start taking it now and things should clear up in about 10 days.   I speak from experience!  (I scratch just thinking about it :-)  Love to all, and enjoy tonight's sunset!

(photo taken in Half Moon Bay, California)