Cyber Knife repaired and a short on-ramp to immunotherapy - 11/12/2025

 The Cyber Knife facility took a week to get fixed and my treatments have been rescheduled for Sun-Thu (11/9-11/13).  I had a CT planning scan 10 days ago and they needed to mark each of the regions that is to receive a toxic dose of radiation. Dr. Hertan said she marked out 20 mets, ranging in size from 1/4 inch (the smallest they can reliably spot on a CT scan to about an inch! They had to divide them into two groups (one with 8 lesions and another with 12) and design a plan for the Cyber knife (40 minutes for the 12 lesions and 20 for the 8). I've had three sessions already (Sun, Mon, Tue) and have two to go (Wed, Thu).

We met with my oncologists, Drs. Costa and Carradonna, and decided to start my infusions next Tuesday 11/18. I'll have my second dose of Keytruda (Pembrolizumab) and my first dose of Avastin (Bevacizumab). I've lowered my daily steroid dose to 2mg of Dexamethasone, and will phase it out over the next two weeks. My mobility keeps getting better and my appetite is great as they have me on Onlanzapine which is working perfectly to increase my appetite.  Hopefully, the Avastin will keep any tumors from growing by cutting off their blood supply, and the Keytruda will help my immune system attack the lung cancer anywhere in my body. It can pass the Blood/Brain Barrier, so it can also kill any cancer mets that arise in my brain. We'll do another MRI and CT scan in mid December to see how well they are working, but I think I've turned a corner in this battle. Starting next week I'll be attacking the cancer directly with immunotherapy and the angiogenesis inhibitor Avastin. 

I'm so thankful for the wonderful support I've been getting from my wife, my step daughter Shaye and her partner Kyndra, and my daughter Caitlin and son Ryan, as well as my nephew Josiah! My quality of life is so much better than when I was in the hospital, and I find it easy to appreciate my life with so much in-person support.  The online support (and success stories) from my FB friends has also been wonderful.

Below is a image of a Cyber Knife .. which is basically a robotic arm with an X-ray machine attached and a transformable lead aperture to shape the beam of X-rays... 


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