I saw my oncologist, Dr. G, today and I got two pieces of good news:
1. I gained four pounds; I now weigh 139 pounds
2. My CEA (from two weeks ago) is/was 55. This is down from 75 about a month ago.
Hopefully this means the new treatment is working and I don't have to go urn shopping just yet.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
A few bits of Good News (for a change)
I saw my oncologist, Dr. G, on Monday, 16 November 2009, and actually got a few pieces of good news:
1. My weight has held steady at 135 pounds.
2. The MIR of my brain came back negative for cancer.
3. I do not have Lynch Syndrome. Lynch Syndrome is a defective gene that increases your risk for colon cancer from ~7% to 70%. Knowing that I don't have Lynch Syndrome doesn't actually do much for me, but it means my son, Kyle, has a slightly improved chance of living a cancer free life. And that my friends, is good news.
1. My weight has held steady at 135 pounds.
2. The MIR of my brain came back negative for cancer.
3. I do not have Lynch Syndrome. Lynch Syndrome is a defective gene that increases your risk for colon cancer from ~7% to 70%. Knowing that I don't have Lynch Syndrome doesn't actually do much for me, but it means my son, Kyle, has a slightly improved chance of living a cancer free life. And that my friends, is good news.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Insert Raspberry noise here
This morning Marjorie and I met with Dr. G, my oncologist, to get the results from last week's PET scan.
But first, the good news:
1. my weight held steady at 135 pounds
2. all of the tests from the hospital came back negative for infection
(Okay, it's all downhill from here. Way downhill.)
The "everything including the kitchen sink" treatment is not working. The lesions in my liver and lungs have increased in size and number.
So, starting soon, I will be taking an oral chemotherapy drug called Xeloda and a blood vessel growth inhibitor called Avastin. I took Xeloda when I was getting radiation and I've had Avastin before also.
We're gonna try this treatment for two or three months and if it doesn't work then, "we are running out of treatment options," according to Dr. G.
I think we have two options: one is to sign-up for Phase 1 Testing of some new cancer drug; we've started the ball rolling on this. The other option is to give-up. If I do this, Dr. G says I will die in, "a matter of months." I've started my Bucket List and cried - a lot.
Either way, things are not looking so good and I'll probably be doing a lot more crying. Mind you, I'm not giving up, but the prospect of my death is somehow more real now and it depresses the hell out of me. But, no pity please. I will continue to fight this (even if I'm blubbering at the same time.)
But first, the good news:
1. my weight held steady at 135 pounds
2. all of the tests from the hospital came back negative for infection
(Okay, it's all downhill from here. Way downhill.)
The "everything including the kitchen sink" treatment is not working. The lesions in my liver and lungs have increased in size and number.
So, starting soon, I will be taking an oral chemotherapy drug called Xeloda and a blood vessel growth inhibitor called Avastin. I took Xeloda when I was getting radiation and I've had Avastin before also.
We're gonna try this treatment for two or three months and if it doesn't work then, "we are running out of treatment options," according to Dr. G.
I think we have two options: one is to sign-up for Phase 1 Testing of some new cancer drug; we've started the ball rolling on this. The other option is to give-up. If I do this, Dr. G says I will die in, "a matter of months." I've started my Bucket List and cried - a lot.
Either way, things are not looking so good and I'll probably be doing a lot more crying. Mind you, I'm not giving up, but the prospect of my death is somehow more real now and it depresses the hell out of me. But, no pity please. I will continue to fight this (even if I'm blubbering at the same time.)
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