My tumor markers have gone up slightly the last couple of rounds of bloodwork, but they are still relatively low. I hoped this would mean I could keep going with no treatment change. I had the scan last Friday and met with my dr on Monday. While the spot we radiated has resolved, there are now 4 other active cancer spots, still in the bones. My sternum, L4, right femur and pelvis are impacted. Unfortunately this means it’s time for a treatment change. With this many spots radiation is not an option, we need to hit the cancer with something systemic to make sure it doesn’t continue to spread. My dr recommended we move to Truqap, but with it being very new there was concern if we could get prior authorization for the insurance to cover it. At about $24,000 per month, out of pocket is not an option! She mentioned if we couldn’t get that covered we would be moving to a weekly chemo. Oh boy, that had me nervous. I have been very lucky to be able to continue working and mostly doing the normal day to day activities with my family around the every 3 week chemo schedule. But that weekly chemo time commitment could definitely change things. I crossed my fingers and hoped and prayed we would get approval for the Truqap. Yesterday I went on the insurance site and saw the authorization was denied. 😫 I spiraled, panicked for a bit, and started making phone calls. The insurance said the dr office could appeal, but nothing more I could do from my end. The clinic pharmacy was more helpful, she let me know they were already faxing the appeal paperwork and that we should get the ok. She also mentioned that the manufacturer has some patient programs that might be able to help. Ok, ok, deep breath, we haven’t given up yet. Then this morning she called me back to let me know we got the approval. Thank goodness! I don’t normally feel like celebrating when my cancer progresses, but getting to try this new drug feels like a big win.

So hopefully next week sometime I will start my new treatment plan. Truqap is a targeted therapy that works on an AKT mutation we found in my biopsy last year. It is 2 tablets twice a day, 4 days on followed by 3 days off. Weird schedule, but that’s fine. The main side effects are low blood counts, rash, diarrhea and metabolic syndrome. That’s high cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure. We will be monitoring closely to see if I need to take anything else to keep these under control. I will get Faslodex shots every 28 days also to target the estrogen. I was on these a couple years ago and tolerated them well, so hopefully that will be the same this time. Then we will scan again in a couple months to see how the cancer is responding. 

I’m always nervous to start a new treatment, but I’m also feeling very hopeful. I pray this new treatment is tolerable and works for a long time. I want to make sure I eat healthy and get better about exercise to try to minimize the metabolic side effects. With the weather getting nicer, I’d love some walking buddies if anyone’s up for that! 

Thanks for catching up with me, and for your continued prayers and support. 💜