Some years ago, I developed squamous cell carcinoma of the thymus and had major surgery at Guys Hospital in an attempt to remove the affected tissue in the thymus. The operation proved to be more difficult than expected and it was followed by radiotherapy, leading to a period of remission. Unfortunately, the cancer decided to spread, and is now embedded in one lung, which resulted in a period of major chemotherapy via infusions and capsules. The cancer has fortunately been stable over the last year or so, due to a somewhat experimental use of the drug "lenvatinib" for this cancer, in the form of capsules taken at home. It is not clear whether the lenvatinib will maintain this stability permanently, and the clinical evidence for long-term use of lenvatinib for my form of cancer is distinctly lacking. At the moment, the side effects of the drug combined with the effects of the cancer itself are manageable but difficult, and I would dearly love to see some actual reduction in the cancer... I have regular CT scans for the cancer and have an excellent consultant and team behind me, including those engaged in treating certain other health problems. I now look forward to being a (hopefully active and positive) member of the Macmillan online community, having already benefitted from occasional visits to the Macmillan cancer centre in my area.
Hi BonVoyage and a very warm welcome to the online community which I hope you'll find is both an informative and supportive place to be.
It's great to read that your cancer is stable but I can totally understand why you'd want to see it actually reducing.
I'm not a member of this group but I noticed that your post hadn't had any replies yet. Responding to you will 'bump' it back to the top of the discussion list.
While you're waiting for others to reply, it would be great if you could pop something about your diagnosis and treatment so far into your profile as it really helps others when replying to you and also when looking for someone on a similar pathway. It also means that you don't have to keep repeating yourself. To do this click on your username and then select 'Profile'. You can amend it at any time and if you're not sure what to write you can take a look at mine by clicking on my username.
"Never regret a day in your life, good days give you happiness, bad days give you experience"
