We had a full round of test's done yesterday. I had a CT Scan, MRI brain scan, X-Ray's and blood work. We meet with the doctor at 11:30 today to find out the results. As I stated in a previous blog, the doctor told us last round that they want to see a 25% reduction in the tumor sizes to continue on with the current treatments. If there isn't that reduction, the doctor stated he would stop this treatment program and look for a different one to try. Obviously the hope is that this treatment is working and we will be able to continue with it. (If it is working we will check into the hospital tonight and begin round 3.) I wish I could say that I am 100% confident that all will go well today and we will be in the hospital tonight, but I cannot. I am praying that it is working, but I cannot help but worry about it. Obviously we had a lot of hope going into this treatment that it would rid my body of cancer. And I know we will be disappointed if it is not working. The other fear is each time something doesn't work, there are fewer options left. I think I do a pretty good job being positive most days, but as we draw closer to the appointment today, the more apprehensive I become. So we are saying a lot of prayers, and hoping for the best. And when I return to finish this blog we will have our answers.
The after. Well the news wasn't the worst in the world, but wasn't the best either. Actually let me clarify, it wasn't what we were hoping for. It was still good in some way's though. It was a roller coaster ride from them time we walked in the office. We alway's meet with a Physician's Assistant before we meet with the doctor. When the assistant came in she gave us copies of the reports from the tests. They were not so good. Then when the doctor came in he told us to ignore the test results because they were wrong. The bottom line is that the smaller tumors have shrunk. The larger ones have shrunk as well. But none of the shrinkage is significant enough to continue with the current treatments. That is still good news. The better news is there are no new tumors, my brain scan was exactly the same as it was before, with no new growth and the one spot they won't even call cancer hasn't grown any either. The treatment's. With the last treatment's there were five different drugs. Three types of chemotherapy, Interluken 2 and Interferon. We originally thought the doctor would suggest an entire new treatment program. Either some sort of clinical trial or some new drug. What he suggested was continuing with the three types of chemo., eliminating the Interluken and Interferon. In his experience and along with numbers from clinical trials, chemotherapy shows better results. In the clinical trials the Interluken and Interferon showed around a 15% success rate. The chemo. showed a 40% success rate. Combining them showed a 50% success rate. Obviously it is different with each person, and it is not as effective with me as they had hoped. The other problem is the Interluken and Interferon are both very toxic drugs and hard on the body. He believe's the success we have seen so far is due to the chemo. So the plan is that we will continue the chemo. We will start the next round here on Saturday. Each treatment is 4 days in the outpatient clinic. (No more nights in the hospital!) The doctor said it could consist of up to 6 treatments, with another round of test's to follow round 2. We will reassess at that point. I will also most likely have to have surgery to remove the larger tumors in the lungs and under my right arm. The best news of all is that we will be able to do the treatments at home, with a few trips back to Houston for follow-up's. We are going to do the first round here simply because we are already here. But we should be home in time for Thanksgiving! So it isn't all bad. Obviously we were hoping for your cured, go home. Oh well, it could always be worse. And we are grateful that it isn't. Thank you for all of your prayers, thoughts and messages today.
Well that is the latest. We will spend tomorrow being lazy and then get started on Saturday. We are both very tired. The last several days have been emotionally taxing, and now that we have some answers we are crashing. We will continue to keep everyone updated as we go.
Remember every day to put one foot in front of the other, drink a lot of water, and don't forget to breath.....................
What a day! I am so glad to hear that there is some good news. Doing the happy dance that you don't have to stay the night at the hospital for the treatments.
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