So it happened, what every metastatic patient fears: the next line treatment, a reminder that metastatic cancer overcomes therapies nearly every time and that one life-extending option has been crossed off the list.
All metastatic patients know that there is a list of potential treatments, each in due course. At some point the current treatment will stop working and we will move on to the next one. We live with the hope that research will move fast enough to keep something on our list.
My new therapy may last a year or it could last ten. I will only know when it ceases to work. Everyone seems to love my new drug. And while it is two large needles and a very slow injection every month, it has the added advantage of not having to remember to take a pill twice a day, which is huge. I’m told it is very well tolerated and it has a great track record of effectiveness.
I’m as optimistic is anyone can be but I serve no one if I’m not honest as well: I’m not okay that I’m one treatment down. So while I wait with hope and gratitude for all of the researchers, trial participants and doctors have brought me to this opportunity, I wait, too, with a little bit of grief for the most recent therapy crossed off my list.
regrounding 
Jul 29, 2013 @ 12:00:26
So, sorry to hear this. Keep the faith and I’ll pray for this one to work for thirty years….
Jul 29, 2013 @ 12:15:39
Thank you so much Maria!
Jul 29, 2013 @ 12:06:31
I now understand this in a way I couldn’t have possibly grasped before. Thanks for your beautifully simple explanation.
Jul 29, 2013 @ 12:17:05
Sometimes we really have to be there to get it, don’t we? I have to admit, though, holding gratitude for Faslodex during those injections isn’t so easy… XOXO
Jul 29, 2013 @ 12:25:21
Simple. Poignant. Real. Thank you for writing this.
I wish you a very long relationship with this therapy!
Jul 29, 2013 @ 12:34:53
Thank you so much, Julie!
Jul 29, 2013 @ 12:39:57
Lori, I am sorry that you have to go through this process of finding that a drug is not working. I am sure the scans and reports are nerve racking, as well as starting a new regimen and dealing with whatever side effects come as a result. I am encouraged that you say “everyone loves this one.” You explained it all so well. I hope you respond favorably to this new regimen and that it works for a very long time. xoxoxo – Susan
Jul 29, 2013 @ 13:56:21
Thanks, Susan! Keeping my fingers crossed…
Jul 29, 2013 @ 12:53:03
Lori,
Thank you for this honest glimpse into what living with mbc is really like. I’m sorry you must cross one therapy off the list. I hope the next treatment goes well, is effective for a very long time and isn’t too harsh. Hugs. xxoxo
Jul 29, 2013 @ 13:58:26
It’s odd…never knowing when it will strike its next advance. Unlike so many, I am blessed to be living relatively pain and symptom free, despite it’s advance. Argh!
Jul 29, 2013 @ 13:31:43
Love you, my friend.
Jul 29, 2013 @ 13:34:50
Lori: As a sister faslodex user and former femara and tamoxifen user, I get it. My doc said when this quits working, it’s only a clinical trial or back to chemo. After six months of chemo when they were trying to cure me, I fear nothing more. I dread the thought of another port but mostly I fear the thought of living on chemo, in that cytotoxic world forevermore. I have done better on Faz than my doc ever thought I would, 16 months and counting. But each CT scan, the panic bubbles up again. I hope to hold out long enough that clinical trials begin with targeted genetic therapy. Wishing you the relatively innocuous months of Faz for a long time, Heather
Jul 29, 2013 @ 13:55:07
Right back at you, sister! I’ve written about scanxiety before, and I am always stunned by the fear chemo brings. And this is exactly why I am involved with scientific peer review. We MUST make progress!
Jul 29, 2013 @ 13:42:01
I’m so sorry to hear this, Lori. Let me know if you want some company during your treatments. xoxo
Jul 29, 2013 @ 13:52:22
Thank you, but luckily treatment is two injections so its relatively quick, if not painless.
Jul 29, 2013 @ 13:53:35
Crap, Lori. Crap, crap, crap. Just hope this is the start of a long and successful relationship between you and the Faz. xoxo, Kathi
Jul 29, 2013 @ 13:56:54
Thanks, Kathi! I hope so too!!
Jul 29, 2013 @ 15:44:08
Wishing, hoping and praying that you have a very long relationship with Faslodex.
Yesher Kochaych!.
Jul 29, 2013 @ 16:33:59
Thank you, Judy! That is certainly my plan.
Jul 29, 2013 @ 17:07:57
Sending huge love and light to you and crossing my fingers for a long and fruitful relationship with the latest “relationship” in your life. Hope to finally meeting you in person when I’m back in LA this August. T xo.
Jul 29, 2013 @ 17:38:34
Thanks Terri. I WILL be there! The date is already on my calendar.
Jul 29, 2013 @ 18:49:31
Lori,
I really hope this works for you. xoxoxo
-Elizabeth
Jul 30, 2013 @ 11:29:38
Thank you! I’ve got friends on this one for years and years, so I’m going to be one of THOSE people!
Jul 30, 2013 @ 14:59:20
🙂
Jul 29, 2013 @ 19:29:44
Praying for you…peace to you.
Jul 30, 2013 @ 11:29:53
Thank you, Karen!
Jul 29, 2013 @ 20:04:26
Dearest Lori, thank you for your brave, honest and clear writing.I’m sending hugs and wishes for the new treatment to work until research finds a cure!! Kol ha’olam kulo gesher tzar meod, veha’ikar – lo lefached clal… (For are non Hebrew readers: The whole world is a narrow bridge, and the most important thing is not to fear it…)
Jul 30, 2013 @ 11:31:19
Todah rabbah! Gesher tzar me’od has always been one of my all-time favorites, and rings so true. While we ALL have our moments, I am blessed to be focused on living and not fearing! XOXO
Jul 29, 2013 @ 22:54:34
Sending big hugs your way, Lori. Your story is so important to share and I love how you keep it real, even when the update is a difficult one. We’ve all got your back. Here’s hoping you have a long relationship with this latest treatment. xox
Jul 30, 2013 @ 11:31:41
Thank you, my #fearlessfriend!
Jul 30, 2013 @ 08:08:55
Lori, thanks for your honest portrayal of living with mets. I’m sending this message to the universe: Faslodex will keep the cancer under control for many years. Looking forward to seeing you soon.
Jul 30, 2013 @ 11:32:24
Thanks, Vicki! I will take all the good wishes that are out there, and we really MUST plan our next #bcsm tweet-up! Missing everyone!!
Jul 31, 2013 @ 13:03:28
Oh, Lori! I haven’t gotten to that point yet in my metastatic stage where I fail the first-line treatment. But I’m likely to get there, just as you have. Your writing just makes me ache with a longing to help you in some way. Just know we are all here for you and love you very much. May this new treatment last you a very long time. xo
Jul 31, 2013 @ 20:59:26
Thank you, my friend! I pray the day never comes for you! The good news is that I’m thus far doing well on it. Third dose in a week and hopefully a dropping marker!
Jul 31, 2013 @ 20:04:48
Much love to you, my good friend.
Jul 31, 2013 @ 20:59:39
Thank you so much! XOXO
Jul 31, 2013 @ 20:14:53
I love you. I’m on the faslodex express as a passenger with you and my mom. Want to hear tumor marker numbers going DOWN at your next blood draw. Heading to LA if necessary, but then, you knew that already…
xoxoxox
Jul 31, 2013 @ 21:01:11
Well there’s no one better to ride with, but I do so wish it was none of us!! Dose 3 on Wednesday and markers will be done then. Keeping my fingers crossed!
Aug 01, 2013 @ 22:31:52
Keeping fingers and toes (and elephants’ nose) crossed for you, Lori!
Thinking of you,
xo
Aug 02, 2013 @ 22:58:17
Thank you, Renn! Xox
Aug 02, 2013 @ 20:46:45
dear lori,
you SEE how many people love, love, love you??!! me, too. and for some reason I feel incredibly positive for you and the FAZ. and I so admire you telling the whole story, the good, the bad, the ugly – but still holding on tight to hope that things will go very well; so glad you have had minimal or no side effects. and I believe the targeted therapy is just around the corner. sending love and encouragement for the focus you have chosen – being engaged in living and not in fear.
XOXOXOXO,
Karen, TC
Aug 02, 2013 @ 23:05:26
Thank you, sweetie! I do remain optimistic both about Faslodex AND targeted therapies. Thank you, always, for your support!
Aug 03, 2013 @ 16:34:21
Thanks for writing this and sharing your honest feelings. We all learn from you and the experiences that you share. Hang in there!
Aug 08, 2013 @ 16:39:24
Brave, beautiful and concise writing! I pray u have a long regimen of success with Faslodex.
Aug 08, 2013 @ 17:34:24
Thank you, Brian! We are obviously hoping the same!
Aug 09, 2013 @ 05:50:57
Lori, I wish this new treatment could be effective forever. I am hoping and praying it’s a keeper. Take care of yourself; I think about you often. xoxo