And What Is Next?

Thank you faithful readers for spurring me on to write another entry, I guess I let things slide for awhile! No excuses, just took a little break over the holidays. Speaking of which they were very quiet around here, just what we needed after an eventful year.

We got back a few hours ago from a visit to the hospital. Nothing much to report, I'm continuing on the prednisone taper (my third attempt at dropping from 8 to 7 mg actually went quite well over the last few weeks!) and I'm planning another drop tomorrow to 6 mg. Wish me luck, we're at that crucial stage over the next while to see if my adrenal glands can be cajoled back into action after being suppressed by the steroids.

My doc said the next visit will include a serious discussion about what comes next in my treatment plan. Likely medication candidates will be Gleevac (chemo) or Interferon Alpha (not chemo, but somewhat similar impact on the system/side effects). I don't remember if I'd mentioned it in previous posts but I'm struggling with this decision. Whether to take any of the "hard" drugs at all. It's been a difficult time trying a myriad of treatments over the last nine months, and I'm "side-effected out" - it's just felt like too much at times and I need a break. We anticipate another 3 - 4 months of steroid tapering - which should end just about the time that the weather starts to get nice again. More than anything I'd like to feel the sun on my face, take long walks with my family (long being a relative term, I'll start with treks around the block - steroid therapy has kicked my behind and I need to build up some strength again), and photograph again! I missed last spring/summer entirely (but apparently so did most of Ontario, it was the summer that wasn't) with staying indoors not feeling great and I feel that I have lots of catching up to do.

Last post I wrote about wondering what was next, what could I look forward to? Still working on that, but it's become clear to me -first priority is to enjoy some time with my family (hopefully we can take that New York City trip that we had to pass on last August). Second is one (or several) photography projects. A few ideas are brewing, I'll share once I've decided on what I'd like to do. I miss holding my camera in my hands and can't wait to get out there again.

I wish you all a happy and healthy 2010!