The test results all came back spectacular. Echo cardiogram showed a reduction in fluid and an increasing EF as they call it in the cardiology world. So what does this mean? It means that they probably won't have to drain the fluid and we'll just watch it every couple of months to be sure it's still heading in the right direction. This is good news.
Next up. CT and PET scans. Results? No visible active cancer except for ONE tumor!!! YES we are thrilled but we are being cautiously optimistic because this was also what we were told in November which put a screeching halt on chemo treatments, live with the horrible side effects of Tamoxifen only to find out in April that it wasn't working and some of my tumors had gotten larger. Soooo, as good as this sounds, we will stay on track with chemo until there are literally no visible anythings that can get out of control and grow larger again.
Lastly, labs. My cancer markers are the lowest they've been since last year when I was really responding to the chemo. This is very good news.
Ok I lied. Lastly is the surgery that I will most likely have in the next few months to remove my ovaries. It was somewhat decided that this would be the best thing for me given the hard time I have with the synthetic drugs to replicate this. It will also prevent the cancer from spreading to my ovaries but of course the main reason would be to stop the estrogen which my tumors thrive on.
All in all, I would consider this news an A-. Pretty good I'd say and I'll take it.
So I will leave you with a quick lesson on metastatic cancer.
I know there's a lot of "You kicked it's ass"or "You'll beat it" going around. It's ok, and I get it and it keeps me motivated for sure.
Because metastatic cancer is the same cancer that you had in the primary site (in my case it was breast cancer in 2006) and the cells decided to spread to other distant areas in my body and take up shop, it is now considered incurable or STAGE 4. The problem is that once the cells take up shop elsewhere in your body, it's not about "beating it" or "Kicking ass" it's really just about containing the tumors where they are and killing them with chemo or whatever other alternative methods may work. But you will NEVER be cancer free. Scan. Treat. Repeat. This is the mantra for us folks with metastatic cancer. It's all about getting the tumors under control to be able to live as normal life as you can while not in active treatment.
This is my goal. I want to get to that place. I'm getting there.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Wednesday, August 06, 2014
Tests, tests and more tests
The way this works is that I have chemo 3 weeks in a row with one week off each month. For every 3 rounds of chemo, I have to meet with Dr. C. We meet with him on Monday to see how things are going and if the treatment is "working" before I start my August rounds.
Tomorrow I have a long day at Mayo. It seems that Dr. C. has ordered up a few tests to keep me busy because he probably doesn't think that organizing my house, reading 3 books at once, online shopping and checking my Facebook, twitter and instagram accounts are enough to occupy my day.
Tomorrow begins with an echocardiogram at 8:30am to see how my pericardial effusion is doing. The doctor's report from the last echo showed that the fluid around my heart is actually getting smaller! This was such great news because the last thing I really need is to have a needle stuck into my heart. No thank you, I've got enough going on.
At 9:40 am I get to have a radioactive sucrose pumped through the vein in my foot to prepare my tumors for the PET scan which will light them up like christmas trees if they are still hanging out. They jack me up on this radioactive stuff and then I sit quietly in the dark, in a small room for an hour waiting for this toxic crap to take over my body. It's kinda relaxing because it's just me and my mind so I think I'll try to meditate. I just learned at Miraval. It's hard.
At 10:40am my PET scan will be started. The test itself only takes a few minutes, it's the prep that takes so long. The actual scan entails laying on a flat bed as it slides you in and out of the machine. Piece of cake. It's the waiting for the results that is so hard and figures it's over a weekend.
Moving along to the chest x-ray at noon - this is a quick one but they can see different things I guess which is why he wants both.
And lastly, they need to take a shit ton of labs to be able to check my cancer markers, my calcium level and of course all the regular things to be sure that my immune system can handle another treatment and quite honestly it all makes my head spin.
Treating cancer right now for me is a full time job. If I'm not at Mayo getting something poked, infused or scanned, then I'm on the phone trying to get appointments made, changed, prescriptions refilled or lord knows what else.
I'm scared shit of what the results will be. Keep you posted!
TKO365
Tomorrow I have a long day at Mayo. It seems that Dr. C. has ordered up a few tests to keep me busy because he probably doesn't think that organizing my house, reading 3 books at once, online shopping and checking my Facebook, twitter and instagram accounts are enough to occupy my day.
Tomorrow begins with an echocardiogram at 8:30am to see how my pericardial effusion is doing. The doctor's report from the last echo showed that the fluid around my heart is actually getting smaller! This was such great news because the last thing I really need is to have a needle stuck into my heart. No thank you, I've got enough going on.
At 9:40 am I get to have a radioactive sucrose pumped through the vein in my foot to prepare my tumors for the PET scan which will light them up like christmas trees if they are still hanging out. They jack me up on this radioactive stuff and then I sit quietly in the dark, in a small room for an hour waiting for this toxic crap to take over my body. It's kinda relaxing because it's just me and my mind so I think I'll try to meditate. I just learned at Miraval. It's hard.
At 10:40am my PET scan will be started. The test itself only takes a few minutes, it's the prep that takes so long. The actual scan entails laying on a flat bed as it slides you in and out of the machine. Piece of cake. It's the waiting for the results that is so hard and figures it's over a weekend.
Moving along to the chest x-ray at noon - this is a quick one but they can see different things I guess which is why he wants both.
And lastly, they need to take a shit ton of labs to be able to check my cancer markers, my calcium level and of course all the regular things to be sure that my immune system can handle another treatment and quite honestly it all makes my head spin.
Treating cancer right now for me is a full time job. If I'm not at Mayo getting something poked, infused or scanned, then I'm on the phone trying to get appointments made, changed, prescriptions refilled or lord knows what else.
I'm scared shit of what the results will be. Keep you posted!
TKO365
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