Third Times the Charm?

Am pleased to report that today my hands and feet feel almost normal. Aside from some extra dry spots, feeling has pretty much returned. I couldn't be happier.

Update re Tuesday's meeting with the oncologist:
I arrived at the oncologist's office fully prepared to withdraw from the drug trial. In fact, that is the first thing I told her. While the back issue was bothersome enough, I have rarely experienced as much frank pain as was then present in my hands and feet. And then there was small matter of diarrhea to contend with. In a nutshell, unless the study team could come up with a compelling reason for me to continue with the drug trial, I wanted off. I wanted my quality of life to return to what is was a mere six weeks prior, before I stared the study. Well, not only did I receive a compelling reason to continue, but better news that I could have possibly hoped for.

Turns out, the drugs are working far better than anyone imagined they might. Several lesions on my lungs have "disappeared" and many other have shrunk. This was more than apparent to my oncologist after only a quick scan of the CT scan results - the scan was done so late in the day on Monday that a radiologist hadn't time to review the images before the meeting with my oncologist on Tues am but they will, no doubt, confirm that the oncologist's untrained eye saw. So it seems all the pain and suffering has been worthwhile after all.

I started the third cycle of the Capecitabine/Lapatinib on Tues evening. Since the Capecitabine appears to be the drug responsible for the unpleasant side effects, the dosage has been reduced once more. If it continues to give me grief, the oncologist will try to keep me on Lapatinib alone (needs permission from trial sponsor to do that). In any case, I've bought a bit more time.

Will know in a little over a week how this cycle's side effects go - it takes about that long before they kick in. For now, I'm increasingly optimistic. Hey, fewer lesions. Things could certainly be worse.