I should be putting on my dancing shoes, or my hiking shoes or my biking shoes and doing the happy dance. I have waited three months for this day. But I just can’t…at least not yet.
In mid-December, after only two cycles of Kisquali®, there was a dramatic increase in my liver enzyme numbers. High liver enzyme numbers can lead to liver damage. I had to stop treatment to prevent damage since treatment options that are available to me now and in the future require a healthy liver.
On Friday, I got the phone call I had been waiting for since December. At 5:25 p.m. on Friday, I received a call from the doctor. Yes.…5:25 p.m. on a Friday; what a great doctor I have. She said that my liver numbers are low enough that I can start back on cancer treatment. They aren’t back to normal; they’re close, but she doesn’t want to wait any longer since I have been off Kisqali® for three months. She is recommending Lynparza®; a treatment option specifically for metastatic breast cancer patients with the BRCA1 gene mutation. She would like to begin the new treatment ASAP. Great news! I will once again be actively fighting this disease.
The side effects of the new medication are my hesitation about putting on my dancing, hiking, or biking shoes. Right now, I feel great! What if that changes once I start Lynparza®? Will nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue, and dizziness—all common side effects—keep me from being active and enjoying my upcoming adventures? Liver damage is also a side effect of Lynparza. Will I start the new treatment only to have my liver numbers increase and have to stop after two months? I was fortunate with Kisqali® that I had no common side effects. The unfortunate part was my liver didn’t like it. Will my liver tolerate Lynparza®? Will I experience the common side effects this time? Once again, it is the unknown and the waiting that are the hard parts. Although my journey at times may be bumpy, I find joy and beauty in each and every day.
By the way, my Wordle win streak ended at 139. But my games played streak continues at 761.
— Brandi
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