June 10, 2025. Mom died 3 years ago today. So it feels like I have an angel sitting on my shoulder as I write this update.
Yesterday was infusion #2 of Dato-Dxd. So far, the side effects have been completely manageable. In my case those have included dry eyes (preservative free eyedrops throughout the day and at bedtime and when I wake up in the middle of the night), threat of mouth sores (salt water mouth rinse several times a day for the first week), feeling nauseous (ginger and anti-nausea medicine) hair loss (started dropping a few days ago…nothing I can do about that), and ongoing fatigue (staying physically active seems to help, try not to overdo and rest).
I saw Dr. Wang ahead of my infusion. When he asked how it was going I mentioned everything listed above. Then I said, “I don’t know if it’s wishful thinking, but it feels like the enlarged lymph nodes near my collarbone are smaller.” When he measured they both had shrunk by half. He had trouble finding the larger one, and the smaller one he could not feel at all. Three weeks ago, they were clearly visible. I hope my next CT scan shows the same true for the nodules in my lungs. What was I saying about an angel? This preliminary result is beyond exciting, beyond encouraging, beyond words.
Just when you think it’s impossible, the morning got even better when my oncology nurse was one of my former scholarship students at Mendocino College. Her name is Yum. She recognized me immediately, and neither of us could wipe the smiles off our faces. We think it was the year 2012. At the scholarship awards ceremony she and her grandmother sat just behind my husband Steve who photographed the events for us. She clearly remembered him asking if she’d like to have him take a photo with her grandmother. He also asked for their email addresses to send them the files. She asked me, “Isn’t his name Steve?” What a memory! Her grandmother lives in Vietnam and has the framed photo hanging in her home. Sweet.
In honor of yesterday’s good news and the hair thing…
There’s a bit of magic in everything, and some loss to even things out. —Lou Reed
lana has cancer 