Hey babe, it's Kyra!

Hey babes 💕

It’s time to talk about my new treatment plan now that I’m post liver resection!

So in my last post, I mentioned that I was scheduled to start chemo infusions again on 4/24. I showed up that day ready to jump back into it, strap on my cold cap helmet, and get back into my routine… but then my oncologist told me we were actually changing plans…

After reviewing my latest scans and bloodwork, she felt that pivoting to chemo pills instead of full-blown infusions would be the right move. The pills are still chemotherapy, so they still come with side effects, but overall they’re much less intense than the infusion regimen I was previously on. Honestly, it sounded like a huge step forward!

She told me I’d likely be on the chemo pills for at least 6 months, taking them morning and night. I felt excited to be dialing things back, but weirdly disappointed too? Chemo was hard, but the infusion center and the people there became such a huge part of my life. I loved seeing all of the chemo nurses every week, especially my nurse Laura, who has been with me through every single infusion. The cancer center became such a comfort space for me (as weird as that sounds), so it was strange thinking I suddenly wouldn’t really be there anymore.

BUT… plot twist lol.

My oncologist wanted to consult with a few colleagues before officially moving forward with the chemo pill plan. Not too long after that appointment, she messaged me and said we actually would not be moving forward with the pills after all. Instead, she wanted to continue me on the immunotherapy infusion I had already been receiving alongside my chemo. So then the schedulers booked me for my “first” infusion… again… which happened today!

Before treatment, we had an appointment with my oncologist where she explained everything in more detail. Basically, because I had such a complete response to chemo before surgery, there was very little cancer left by the time they operated! And now, post-op, my scans and bloodwork are showing no signs of cancer. She said she felt comfortable using the phrase…

“CAUTIOUSLY cancer free.” 🥹💖

Of course, we all know cancer is a long journey, and for the foreseeable future — meaning YEARS — I’ll still be under very close monitoring with regular bloodwork, scans, follow-ups, and treatment. Nothing is ever fully guaranteed, but I’m starting this next chapter with a really strong foundation!

So back to the treatment plan — I’ll officially be stopping chemo and continuing with only immunotherapy infusions! Since there doesn’t appear to be any remaining cancer for chemo to actively “kill,” the goal now is to strengthen my immune system and T cells so that if any cancer cells do pop up again, my body is better equipped to attack them. I was already receiving this immunotherapy every 21 days during chemo, but now we’re cutting the chemo portion completely and continuing only this treatment.

And I’m feeling really good about this!

These infusions only take about 2 hours compared to my chemo days where I would literally be at the hospital ALL DAY. So only having to go in once every 3 weeks for a few hours feels like such a huge improvement in my quality of life!

Now of course, there are still some hard realities that come with all of this. My doctor wants me on immunotherapy for at least 1–2 years which means… my port stays in for a lot longer than I anticipated. I’m very used to it now and you can barely tell I even have it anymore, but it still serves as a constant reminder of how much my life has changed.

And while I’m beyond grateful to say the words “cautiously cancer free,” recurrence is still something that weighs heavily on my mind. Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma has a pretty high recurrence rate (50-70%), especially within the first few years. I know statistics are just statistics and everyone’s journey is different, but of course it’s still scary. Part of me wishes I could just stay on chemo forever to make absolutely sure nothing comes back — but obviously that’s not realistic either.

So now I just have to trust my doctors, trust the plan, and trust that through continued treatment, close monitoring, scans, and bloodwork, if anything ever does pop up again, we’ll catch it early.

Alright babes — cheers to this new treatment plan and the next chapter in this longggg saga!💖

Xoxo,

Kyra💋✨