Here I am again! 

Some good news!! I had new scans last week, and everything looks good to my doctor - no growth of the previous sites and no new growths - the drug (Tabrecta/Capmatinib) continues to work. Of course, this is most excellent. :)  Since I am having trouble feeling my feelings, and still regard it as a three month pass, I am pretty measured about it, but of course, somewhere inside me, I'm guessing I must be ecstatic. ;-)

At the same appointment, however, I learned that the blurry eye is very likely due to the medication that is working so well at controlling/killing the cancer. This presents a real and serious dilemma. I have been told that reducing the dosage can provide relief from the blur, and still maintain protection, but of course, this is a risky business. I have a request through for another oncology appointment so I can discuss it further with the team, since I was kind of taken off guard last week, and didn't fully suss out what he was telling me. In the meantime, they have put through a request for me to see a retinal specialist at Mass Eye & Ear. I am hoping very hard that I won't have to wait months to see that person.

I have been out walking again in the past week, which helps my head as well as my body, taking pictures of the beautiful turning leaves and the brilliant mosses, and enjoying the autumn. I'll attach a few here for you all to share. I also went to Martha's Vineyard over Columbus Day weekend to visit friends, and had a real break: for the first time in a long time (maybe ever, since October 2020), there was a moment where I forgot I had cancer. Wow, was that welcome. Thank you, Susan, for persevering to get me out there (it took a year), and for having cool things to do like kayaking, visiting a Japenese Garden, and helping the Land Trust to measure the coastline! I have always liked being on the steamship. It gives you plenty of time to leave behind where you were while immediately putting you somewhere else (on the ocean). 

If anyone wants a fiction recommendation, I am reading a really good book called The Lincoln Highway at the moment, written by the author of A Gentleman in Moscow. That will likely be my next read. I've also recently read Ruth Ozecki's, A Book of Form and Emptiness, and A Tale For the Time Being, and recommend them as well. I'm all in on fiction. Beam me down, Scotty, take me away! 

Thanks for checking in. I'll drum up some interesting thoughts for next time.
xo
Ardys