So Inspired by this

Often we lose perspective and fret about the little stuff. I was wallowing in one of those "if I had a million dollar" moments when I received this email- I have removed identifying information but kept the content because it is sooo inspiring...she is young, extremely wealthy and gifted with a lot to live for is all I can say....

"The events of last 2 weeks have resulted in a change of direction for me.
As mentioned in the previous update the clinical trial treatment was stopped after the report of the MRI brain scan showed that there were four new lesions in the brain.The MRI Brain Gamma Knife Surgery, a non-invasive radiation treatment was carried out last Tuesday. This treatment is very precise and works directly on the lesions. I will be followed up in 3 -6 months.

This week I met with all my doctors to review and discuss the results from other CT Scans and MRI's. The reports showed further growth and spread in lesions in both the liver and the lungs and confirmed that the clinical trial treatment did not work. There was spread and growth in the cancer and the treatment was stopped.

We had decided on the clinical trials when after discussions with Dr.xx about the types of treatments possible and honestly after having 5 lines of treatments since the metastasis know that existing treatments are not going to be very effective and would most likely not work; and if at all, the doctor would take a couple of existing treatments and try out some mixes, but it would be like picking apples from an orchard. The difference is my body's ability to manage the side effects- a difficult ordeal. As mentioned earlier I have not done very well with the clinical trial treatment- lost a lot of weight, there is muscle wastage and the side effects are still lingering 3 weeks after treatment has been stopped. Dr Xxalso mentioned that the new treatments that are being tested are may be 3+ years away. The discussion was a frank discussion and at the end of the day it was a choice about quality of life.

After a lot of reflection over the past few weeks, we have come to a decision that I would move towards stopping all my treatments, and the discussion with the doctors facilitated this and we have now communicated this to Dr xx as our decision, which means no more chemo treatments.

I will now be in the care of the palliative care team who will help me deal with my symptoms and give me whatever support I need. In the last few weeks that I worked with them, my experience has been very good. I have a very good nurse who I can call during hospital hours and the doctor on call is available for 24 hours.

I am very happy with this decision and don’t feel it is a risk I am taking nor a fatalist attitude. I feel that it is a healthier option for us, the quality of life will improve, and mostly it will allow me to recover well from the onslaught of the treatments of the past few years.

I will work closely with Palliative care to manage all the symptoms and will find positive ways to work with my time, travel, work on the xx research projects and many other ideas that are germinating in me. More so get into some normalcy in life that became less and then non-existent since 2008.

Thanks again to all of you for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. It was because of this that I have this positive and healing energy that has made what could have been a most difficult decision feel easy and right for me.