Triennial Update

Pam with Tintin and friends in Brussels, 2015

Dallas here checking in with the triennial update. There is some news.

As many of you will know, Pam's been on "traditional" (infusion) chemotherapy now since before Christmas - three weeks on (two hours on Fridays) and one week off. Her new oncologist Dr. T. (Dr. B. has retired) had been mindful of the rising tumor markers and wanted to address this with some more aggressive treatment - hence the chemo. Pam had a "port" installed to allow the IV infusion to be done more easily, without having to find a vein each time. That's been very helpful.

The other thing that's been going on for some time is a pleural effusion on Pam's right side. This is a buildup of fluid around the lungs that is often associated with metastatic breast cancer. It causes shortness of breath and unfortunately, has gotten so severe that Pam's right lung has pretty much collapsed from the fluid pressure. The usual treatment is to drain the fluid in the office through a small catheter but unfortunately this was not successful - the respirologist was only able to get a small amount of fluid out and the lung did not reinflate at all. So we had a decision to make as to whether Pam will go for surgery to remove the fluid. We're told by the thoracic surgeon that it's unlikely that the lung will inflate again but there may be some improvement in breathing and relief of some of the pains Pam's been having. Since there is some prospect for improvement, Pam has decided to have the surgery. There is really no downside except for the usual anaesthesia and surgical risks. There will be a small catheter permanently left in situ to drain the PE fluid over time. The surgery is scheduled for 21 March and there will be a short hospital stay of 1-2 days after that, followed by recovery at home.

Although the PE does cause some significant shortness of breath and tiredness it's not terrible, Pam just gets winded when she has to walk uphill or climb stairs at all. Having said that we had a really nice skate on the Red River two weeks ago Sunday with her sister and girls, followed by a huge Chinese food dinner at a local restaurant, so things are not all bad. Pam's also reduced her working to mornings only. She is not expecting to return to work after her surgery, except for the odd day or two to finish things out.

So the chemo will continue for now (as it's been controlling the rising tumor markers) albeit with a short break for surgical recovery, the surgery might help address the pleural effusion. We'll keep you posted...