Saturday, July 29, 2006
REPORT ON MY WIFE’S CANCER JOURNEY
Our trip to the doctor this week revealed that the tumor count had gone back up just a little--but mainly the doctor said it had hit a plateau. His conclusion was that the chemo drug she was taking was no longer effective. He started her a different drug with the chemo treatment this week. One of this drug's many side effects is that it effects the heart. So before she could start on the drug, she had to have some kind of heart scan to be sure her heart is functioning normally. It was normal so they could go ahead and give her the treatment that will mess up her heart! Doesn’t really make sense to me but I’m not a doctor. (Thank goodness!)
The doctor said the bone scan showed no new lesions on any of the bones--in fact they looked somewhat improved. The CT scan showed that the spot on the liver had increased in size. The scan also showed something in the lungs but he didn't think it was cancer--probably something from the infection she recently contracted. That’s what put her in the hospital for a couple of days two weeks ago. She has to have a lung X-ray before her next chemo treatment to be sure that it isn’t anything serious.
We had a lengthily consultation with the doctor. I was the most satisfied ever with the amount of time he gave us and with the discussion. He wasn't able to answer all our questions but he at least discussed them with us. He said the reason she hasn't bounced back this time as always before is explained by several factors: the cancer is active again, her body is experiencing some residual effects of such long-term chemo treatments, she had that episode with the infection in her body, etc.
So she had the treatment Thursday. Now we are entering the time when she’s going to feel really lousy for a week or so. Then comes the period of time when her immune system is really low. We’ll have to be careful not to infect her with anything. And she has to stay away from eating green vegetables during this time.
The “Journey” continues.
Regards,
Jim
posted by jim 12:04 PM 0 comments
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