Short update

I am still in isolation and off treatment.
Had a couple of training days that were a bit off off but did pretty well on the bike trainer today.

Generated an average of 20 Watts more on the same workout I did about a week ago. Granted, pushed a bit more than target zones today, but was feeling good - did not even have to go through the "clear the lungs, feeling congested from allergies" portion of the program. Have biked close to 35 miles and running close to 5 miles the last 7 days.

Yesterday I had a chance to speak with a doctor running drug trials. Due to the coronavirus, there is no time frame as to when trials will open up again. He did get a chance to review the information about my case that he has received so far and there are a couple of mutations he noted which may point to certain trials. Which is positive news for sure. A bit of hope in all of this.

I also will probably go on the third line chemotherapy shortly to hopefully stop the cancer growth until I get into the trial. I was told it will not preclude me from trials. Additionally they are pills, which reduces my exposure to the real world. The opinion is that due to my general overall health, I will probably be able to tolerate it fairly well. The biggest issues seems to be becoming more tired and a drop in white blood count. But I am in isolation, so it is something I can deal with.

The doctor was happy to see my overall health during the teleconference. Once again, the triathlon training and being lucky also in all of this has paid off. Makes me a very good candidate. And in the standard cancer moment, I also felt a bit guilty with his comments. There are so many people going through things, not sure how my luck has gotten me to this point. But I am going to keep on going.

Buying Time

With covid-19 running rampant I am "pausing" my treatments. Actually I am not having treatments right now, but really pausing moving forward to select treatments. I really do not have much choice.

My best options will in all likelihood be drug trials. But they are pretty much shut down right now. My first potential one fell through. Another one is completely on hold. I was going to speak with a doctor about it via FaceTime, in the hope that I can get some information about the study in order to "hang on" to see if it is worthwhile. But even that presents a problem - when they realized I am in a different state they may not even be allowed to speak to me just to give me a background.

I also need to be careful which treatment I choose now, since it could stop me from being qualified for a trial. Plus the thought of going out to a hospital for treatment seems to present a higher risk then sitting on my cancer for a couple of months. Despite best precautions, there is a chance I could still come down with covid-19. There are patients at MSK who have it.

If I get sick and things keep on going like they are, I would be the first one they will be taking off a ventilator and move on to the next patient.

I get it all. I understand it all. Why trials are shutting down. Why I would be removed from medical treatment. So with that in mind, I will sit and wait some more.