Cancer Chronicles: Excellent News

Hands up all those who know what it means when I mention CEA; if you're really desperate to know, you'll find the answer in Cancer Redux. Doctors refer to this blood test as a tumour marker, which is probably easier for y'all to know what I'm talking about. If you've been keeping up with the scanty cancer info I've been providing via this blog, you may remember that the chemo I started out with wasn't working and I switched to a different drug last October. At that time, the number of cancer antibodies showing up in the tumour marker test was over 100, which is an alarmingly high number. As of January 17, 2012, the number was 15, which I think is a bloody miracle. This is great news and proves the chemo is working. It's called Vectabix if you want to Google it. Like any drug, it has side effects but these are nothing like the ones I suffered with the previous drug. This one is designed to target cancer cells directly and it was explained to me that, since skin and hair cells carry the same receptors as some cancer cells, the side effects primarily affect skin and hair. Diarrhea is one of the other side effects. My body seems to be experimenting with all of them but they're manageable so far. The strangest of all of them are the hair changes. My eyebrows are now made of steel wool and the hair on my face (eyelashes and eyebrows), which has always been blonde and barely noticeable, has now darkened. My hairdresser told me the hair on my head is coarser too; hopefully it's not morphing into steel wool or rebar like the eyebrows. Some of the changes to hair can include lengthening of eyelashes and curly hair on the head. I should be so lucky. Longer eyelashes would be very welcome.



MORE WELCOME THAN THE MOUSTACHE I'M DEVELOPING!!!

For the first time in my life I have facial hair and problem skin. The skin changes include extreme dryness and an acne-like rash. I got through my teenage years without pimples and now it's time to pay the piper. If the fully-grown moustache is impressive enough, I may try for a beard next - one of those sinister little pointy ones regularly sported by men during the sixteenth century - Sir Francis Drake had quite a nice one.

As long as my bloodwork continues to show positive results, I can put up with the side effects and may even take on a new gig as the bearded lady when I can drum up enough energy to run away and join the circus. It has been mentioned by friends in the past that I could successfully take up a position as a dominatrix, so maybe I'll give that a try. Imagine, if you will, my buxom wee body encased in a rubber corset AND sporting luxurious facial hair to boot. I couldn't manage anything physical such as whipping or spanking though. Too tired for that. It would have to be verbal punishment. It would give me great pleasure to verbally whip people who abuse the English language with words like EXpecially. That's a whole other blog subject, I'm afraid.