It's been a week of nerves. I had PET scan Tuesday morning to see if the new chemo regiment was working. Everything went well test wise although some day they are doing to use me to light the city. For those of you not familiar with PET scans (Positron emission tomography) you are hooked up to an IV and they inject radioactive (tracer) solution into your body which attaches itself to the tumors and basically highlights them. Once you are injected you must relax (in a recliner) and not exert yourself (they won't even let you read because holding the book tenses up your upper muscles) for about 1.5 hours while the tracer circulates within your body. Once that is complete they pull the IV and you lie on a table and scans for 30 minutes on a machine that also does CAT (Computerized Axial Tomography) and it gives them a 3D image of what is going on. (Don't you all feel real smart now?) The reason my doc does a PET Scan vs. a CAT Scan is that a PET shows both hard (bones) and soft tissue whereas a CAT only picks up soft tissue. In my case I would have to have both a CAT and a Bone Scan in order to see what's happening. BTY - a PET scan is Approx $9,000 and a CAT is $3,000. Thank God for insurance! So anyway - the test went off as usual and it was a waiting game until yesterday afternoon when I had a doc appt before chemo.
As you could imagine it was a long 24+ hours waiting to hear the results. Well it wasn't bad news but it wasn't exactly good news. Just OK news. The scan showed that the bone lesions are reducing in size but the liver tumors increased slightly. Best news is that no new tumors were detected. After talking to the doctor it was decided to stay on this chemo regiment of the "industrial strength" chemo IV as well as the 8 pills a day chemo for two more rounds.
All and all I feel good except for fatigue. Not complaining - I could live with being tired.
As soon as I get more info I'll keep you all informed.
Thanks all for your prayers and support!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Happy Anniversary! I just noticed I started this blogg one year ago today. How time flies.
Doing OK on new chemo pills (Xwloda). It's a real pain to swallow 8 pills (12 counting all my other meds) a day but you have to do what you have to do. Beats a needle in my arm. No major effects except I noticed I'm a lot more tired lately. I'm also having a problem with heart burn so I'm being careful what I eat. I had the "industrial strength" chemo on Wednesday. Made it through OK. They also gave me Xgeva for the bone lesions so I have a real chemo cocktail going on in my body.
I am having another PET scan on May 24 to see if all this stuff is doing its thing. Keep your fingers crossed. Not sure what is next if this isn't working (beyond the obvious).
I can't believe it's been a year already. Time just flew by or so it seems. I've had a lot of ups and downs (mostly ups). The worst parts is having this constantly on my mind. I think that's why I try to keep busy so I don't have to think about it. But its always there. The worst is when I'm driving, especially when I'm caught in traffic and there's not much to do (I keep getting yelled at for doing my emails in the car). Imagine what it feels like to know you may not be around in a few months, a year or whatever time you have left. I know none of us know that answer but its different when you actually have a reason to know its very possible. It's very scary and nothing I wish on anyone.
An upside is that I've been reconnecting with all my old friends from SRB. We are planning a 40 year reunion. Some of us have been trading stories on Facebook and its fun to see who remembers what.
So keep healthy my friends and lets grow old together. Until I have more news to report I wish you all the best and hopefully we will have good weather soon.
Doing OK on new chemo pills (Xwloda). It's a real pain to swallow 8 pills (12 counting all my other meds) a day but you have to do what you have to do. Beats a needle in my arm. No major effects except I noticed I'm a lot more tired lately. I'm also having a problem with heart burn so I'm being careful what I eat. I had the "industrial strength" chemo on Wednesday. Made it through OK. They also gave me Xgeva for the bone lesions so I have a real chemo cocktail going on in my body.
I am having another PET scan on May 24 to see if all this stuff is doing its thing. Keep your fingers crossed. Not sure what is next if this isn't working (beyond the obvious).
I can't believe it's been a year already. Time just flew by or so it seems. I've had a lot of ups and downs (mostly ups). The worst parts is having this constantly on my mind. I think that's why I try to keep busy so I don't have to think about it. But its always there. The worst is when I'm driving, especially when I'm caught in traffic and there's not much to do (I keep getting yelled at for doing my emails in the car). Imagine what it feels like to know you may not be around in a few months, a year or whatever time you have left. I know none of us know that answer but its different when you actually have a reason to know its very possible. It's very scary and nothing I wish on anyone.
An upside is that I've been reconnecting with all my old friends from SRB. We are planning a 40 year reunion. Some of us have been trading stories on Facebook and its fun to see who remembers what.
So keep healthy my friends and lets grow old together. Until I have more news to report I wish you all the best and hopefully we will have good weather soon.
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