progression – Life As I Know It

March 29, 2026

Hello again. A quick update on where I’ve landed with treatment.

Over the next 2 weeks I’ll start what I consider my 5th line of treatment. If you are interested I’m tracking my treatments on the My Story link of this website/blog.

I say 5th because I’m not really counting the clinical trial I was on. It was a blind trial so you don’t know if you are in the treatment or control group. After the fact I learned I was in the control group so I was really getting the same treatment as before the trial. Anyway, it’s not always straightforward to track treatments.

Speaking of clinical trials – I was hoping to get in to a Phase 2 trial with a “new” drug. Phase 2 trials have limited participation and the focus is to figure out the right dosing. The trial had a wait list of 10 women and the wait list was “not moving”. Sigh. A disappointment.

I’ve decided to try another drug similar to one that I was on before (from the same “class” of drugs). My oncologist says that in his experience he’s not seen great results from doing this. However, I’m seeing more people with MBC (metastatic breast cancer) who are doing this, some with good success.

So, he agreed that we will try it and closely monitor things through bloodwork and how I’m feeling. I’ll have another scan in early June to see if it’s stopped the progression.

I’m going to take Verzenio (Abemaciclib) with Tamoxifen. Fortunately for me, when I had early stage breast cancer I didn’t take any medications. This means they are all an option for me now (#silverlining). Many women with early stage breast cancer take Tamoxifen for 5 or 10 years as a way to prevent the cancer from returning.

Verzenio is a CDK 4/6 inhibitor (and has to be taken with something to knock down estrogen – the Tamoxifen in this case). When I was diagnosed in 2019 the “preferred” CDK 4/6 inhibitor was Ibrance. Since that time, research studies have shown that Verzenio is actually a bit superior. My oncologist told me that if I were diagnosed today he’s put me on Verzenio.

So, we will give this a try. They are both oral medications (nice, I don’t have to go to the cancer center). Verzenio is known to cause GI issues, in some cases severe. I have tolerated most of the drugs really well and am hoping this is the case again.

Am I nervous? Yes.

Anxious? You bet.

Optimistic? Absolutely!

In the meantime, life continues! Maddy and I just got back from a week in Rome. Evelyn and I are planning a trip to Europe in May. Hopefully I’ll be well enough for Glen and I to do a trip in early fall. I’m going absolutely nowhere in April and will be hitting the trails to walk and soak up the beautiful Colorado views! Come visit, I could use walking partners!

Onward!

Happy New Year!

I hope the new year is treating you well. We were fortunate to be able to spend time with family in Wisconsin and then Rob, Paul and Cara came out to do some skiing over New Years. Escaping to the mountains and Winter Park is always a good time!

It’s been sunny here – pretty typical for Colorado. I love the sun so I celebrated the winter solstice and the increase of solar radiation 🌞. I’m very happy the sunset continues to move later and later into the evening.

While I welcome more radiation from the Sun, I’m less thrilled with the fact that I will need to have some medical radiation ☢️. New pain developed in my left hip and leg a few days after Christmas. After an MRI and appointment with my neurosurgeon, we’ve confirmed the pain is real and related to progression of the cancer.

It looks like the L4 and L5 vertebrae are growing more tumor. Recall in October I had surgery to remove tumor on my L4 and L5 that was pinching my spinal cord. It’s grown back. It also looks like my S1 vertebrae (sacrum, just below the lumbar region) has notable progression. This is new cancer activity. Clearly the cancer is active and has grown back over the past 2 months.

I stopped taking Ibrance in September, I continued to receive Fulvestrant shots through early November. I started taking Xeloda (oral chemotherapy) in December. I continue to take Xeloda.

So, the cancer is active and we need to figure out how to stop it. The best path forward is to stay on my medicine so it has the opportunity to get the cancer under control.

Surgery would require me to stop my cancer medication. That’s not a great option because this would allow the cancer to continue to grow. My medical team has told me radiation is the best option.

At this point I’m waiting for the cancer center to call me to set up the appointments. I will have an initial appointment where they plan out what they are going to do and then I will go to the cancer center daily for the radiation treatment.

I’m grateful I have an option other than surgery and I’m looking forward to working with the radiation team to get started. In the meantime I’ll be working as I can and aiming to keep moving. My physical therapist has given me many good exercises and I’ve ordered some walking poles specifically designed for recovery. The poles should arrive this coming week and I’ll be getting outside as soon as I can with them. (Neighbors, if you see me, come on out and join me – I’d love the company.)

I hope that you all are having a great month and are doing all the things that make you happy and that are good for you.

Onward!