8th - Great News

As most of you know, I had an interim PET & CT scan on Monday morning.  Stuart and I went to Dr. Frenette's office this morning to hear the results and got great news.  The scan showed no new tumors and reduced size and metabolic activity in the previously documented areas.  In fact, the radiologist (Dr. Shah) put this in his report; "currently, no evidence of metabolically active disease is identified".  Dr. Frenette's quote was that the results were "as good as he hoped for, maybe better".

Frankly, it took me a while today to get into the spirit of the news.  I have been obsessing about this scan for weeks and was prepared for the worst, so please do not blame me.  I thought for sure that the nurse / assistant in the radiology department forgot to give me the nuclear medicine or something.  As the day wore on though, I realized it was real and I could not feel better.  It is a long road ahead, but I will take that over being in the ditch.

Treatment #5 of 12 is tomorrow and my mind is starting to think about the 50% complete mark (I am still convinced I will be done in 6 months, rather than 8 months).  My next PET & CT scan will be after my fourth cycle in February.

Thank you and your families for your thoughts and prayers, as they have clearly been working and lifted me up so far!  Please keep up the great work.

25th - Treatment Went Almost Flawlessly

Just  a quick update on yesterday's visit to Dr. Frenette's office...

Stuart and I saw Dr. Frenette for about 15 minutes for an exam.  The only issue he responded to was the numbness / tingling in my feet.  He said it was a side-effect of the Vinblastine and that he wanted to keep going for one more treatment and then assess whether my dosage needed to be reduced.  Other than that, he was ok with the other issues I reported.  We scheduled the interim PET scan for Monday December 6th at CMC Main hospital...big day for me.

Treatment today went almost flawlessly.  In the midst of the treatment, the nurse came over to break the bad news that there is a nationwide shortage of Adriamycin (the red stuff).  The doctor recommended a substitute drug in the same "family" called Epirubicin.  I signed the waiver and moved on.

I am feeling ok today and will try my best to pound down some Turkey and fixings...I will be saying a big thank you to each of you during my pre-meal blessing.

4 down...8 to go...