Results of the CT scan were inconclusive. After walking into the doctor's office yesterday I was feeling pretty optimistic: I expected to hear that tumor markers dropped, and the tumor itself shrunk 50%. Tumor markers were good. They dropped another 30% from last time. The tumor apparently only experienced very minor shrinkage, and there doesn't seem to be the expected withdrawal of the tumor away from some critical circulatory tissue. It's hard to be definitive because the doctor reviewing the scan didn't really write it in a way that compared the size in a way conducive to being considered apples-to-apples. My oncologist and potential surgeon are discussing to see if they can get a clear picture of the state of the tumor in order to be able to determine a sound treatment plan and ultimately a surgery date.
It could have been worse: the tumor could've grown, and it didn't. There could've have been metastases, and there weren't. I am bummed that the tumor doesn't appear to have shrunk much, however. My oncologist posited that the scan looks at things from a top down perspective, so the tumor could've flattened, which would be nice, but I'm not holding my breath.
Next steps are to continue to meet with surgeons as planned. My oncologist is suggesting another procedure that would do a more definitive measurement, and I'm all for it. In the meantime though, I'm likely going to have to continue doing chemo in order to keep that little fucker Toomie bathing in poison. Lather up you little bastard. There's still a lot of ground left in this race, and I'm going to win. I might also do radiation, which is cool too. I'm still holding out on gaining Hulk powers should I end up going in to be irradiated.
There's likely to be some considerable changes in the days to come. I am not sure how this is all going to play out, and there's likely going to be some flux. We'll figure it out.
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2 comments:
I have been following your situation as it is very similar to mine except that I have not had any radiation --at least yet. I also got my ct scan results Wednesday after 3 treatments and got the same type of news--"no significant change". In reading other blogs and boards I find that most others do not acheive shrinkage until 12 or more treatments. No growth of the tumor is suppposed to be the first goal so I am holding on to that. Don't know how to exchange email addresses as I am new to this blog thing but would rather communicate with you that way so if you can clue me in to how to accomplish that I would appreciate it. Good luck my partner in PC!
Know that's its very likely you have the best team on earth on your side. Stay strong bro. I know it's hard sometimes.
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