Three down, ten to go.

This week was treatment number three of Nivolumab. Up to now, there have been no side effects whatever, so it's pretty much like a saline IV for a half hour.

But this time was preceded by a meeting with Dr. Lilly Lee. She was standing in for Dr. Noonan - my regular oncologist, who is on vacation. I found her somewhere between my urologist - Dr. Wong - and Dr. Noonan in terms of temperament, although she has significantly more clinical experience than either of them (I guess her age as late forties, early fifties - and has been practising oncology for twenty years). Pretty pragmatic. Pretty matter-of-fact. But with an empathetic veneer. 

Anyway, she and I talked for about a half hour. She referred to the Nivolumab as the "insurance therapy" they were not able to offer just a couple of years ago. Back then, a person in my position would be left to go home and see what happened - there was no additional treatment available for muscle invasive bladder cancer. You either lived or you died.

Although I couldn't really pin her down, she did admit that a clear CT at this stage was a good thing. In her practice she would likely not do another until the full course of treatment was done (one year) - or maybe none at all. Her comment was "why go looking for trouble". I can see her point - if there are no symptoms and something is discovered, all you do is introduce anxiety. If there are symptoms, do the CT to help determine what it is.

So for now, things are good. I feel great, we're travelling again this summer, and have booked flights to The Canary Islands in November to see our friends Andrew and Cheryl on their catamaran (that's their boat in the photo).

Carpe diem?

PS: I did buy a watch. Casio G-Shock custom made for me in the UK.