The Latest in Numbers and Living Well

Got my latest liver enzyme readings, checking in on the all important Alkaline Phosphate S, AST (SGOT), and ALT (SGPT).

Here are this week's numbers, after chemo number 4. Yesterday was chemo number 6, which means I'm halfway through:

Alkaline Phosphatase, S    124 (started at 286 pre-chemo, high normal 150, 57% drop from start)
AST (SGOT)                    32(started at 150, high normal is 40, 78% drop from start)
ALT (SGPT)                     45 (started at 124, high normal is 40, 63% drop from start)

The drops in numbers are lower at this point, but since we're normal for two of the numbers and just about to hit normal for the third, that's ok. I don't want to head to the bottom of the scale and have the opposite problem.

Tonight I'll be joining my friends at Mi Vecinidad, a Cuban/El Salvadoran joint down the street, to toast Beatrice the liver, and her improving health.  Finally, I'll be meeting the fabulous Nico, the National Cancer Institute Oncologist who blessedly looked over my reports and offered me constant straight, encouraging talk.  How do I handle a situation like that? Give him a lap dance? That'd be kind of creepy coming from a balding cancer patient, plus, he is gay.  Maybe I'll just pay for his dinner. That might be more socially acceptable.

I continue to experience pure gratitude for all the help I'm receiving from friends and family. I could not do this without them.  I also continue to experience challenges in finding others who are also dealing with metastatic cancer and living well with it.  Some folks are doing just that, and some seem to have dropped into a life of settling for the constant threat of recurrence and death.  This disease might take me early. Who knows. But I want to live my life and live it well, loving the people around me, helping others, just taking it a day at a joyful time.  At this point I do not need to go onto disability and I don't need to think of end of life planning (I've had the will set up for a long time now anyway).  Right now I am focused on healing, surgery, maintenance and moving forward.  Who knows what will happen next, but I can't control that, so why dwell on it.

I've got t-shirts to create (I have more in mind-http://uppitycancerpatient.spreadshirt.com).  I have organizations to volunteer for, mentoring other women going through this crap.  I have movies to see, books to read. coffee to drink with friends, walks across the Mall, jokes to crack, counted cross stitch to create, dogs to pet and play with, vacations to take, and so, so much more.

So the news continues to be good and I am happy. I did have one hell of a cold for two weeks and discovered that colds on chemo suck. Suck real bad.  But still, I'm alive, I'm loved and cared for, and now I have some fun t-shirts to wear. The Uppity Cancer Patient t-shirt was quite a hit at chemo yesterday. Wait until they see the Embrace Your Inner Cockroach, Kick cancer to the curb shirt.