10-18-2010 PET SCAN READOUT / CHEMO NO 5

10-18-2010 PET SCAN READOUT / CHEMO NO 5

As per the short post I sent from my cell phone earlier, the PET SCAN results were GREAT! "Wonderful response" to quote Dr. R.

To quote the results: "no pathologic uptake demonstrated". My take is that this means that no cancer cells took the radiated glucose... because there were no cancer cells present to take it. (!)

(editor's note: I put a scan picture in here, it's easier to read. Click on document to view in larger format, use browser back button to return here)





Last PET scan, they went fishing and found a lot of fish to take the bait. This time they went fishing but no fish took the bait. Because there are no fish!

Dr. R. was very pleased but cautioned me that my treatment is not done. I still have to have CHEMO NO 6 and then the maintenance treatments for the next 2 years to insure that the little gremlin-bastard-mother-scratchers don't come back. Also, I'll get another PET scan after the regular chemos end and the maintenance begins, and then more, but I'm not sure of the schedule on those.

He said the maintenance would be like this: For 5 consecutive days, one time every 6 months I would get ritauxin (sp?) only. Each treatment would last about 5 hrs. So... that's not what I was expecting. Presently I spend 1 day out of 21 getting chemo. I guess I was thinking it would be 1 day out of 180 days.

Whatever it is, it's a small price to pay and I'm not complaining, merely 'blogging.

Julie went with me so she could hear the results and we were both obviously very happy.

She stayed a while with me and then went on in to work. After I got done with #5, I went to work til about 4:30. So everything went fine. One little thing: During chemo I got the most god-awful, bitter taste in my mouth. Can't get it to go away. Tried everything, brushing my teeth, chewing gum, all that. Flavored liquids taste really bad. I've avoided eating familiar foods and I'm hoping it goes away soon. I've gotten it before, but never so soon. And my WBCs were 3.2! I'll try to post the chart soon.

So, where's my head at? I wasn't sure what to expect this morning, but that was the best news I could have gotten. My head is spinning, for sure. I don't want to say "I'M CURED" because I think that jury will still be out for a while. But I am more optimistic and hopeful than I've been anytime in the last 4 months. I felt good about how it was going, but I needed the experts to validate that.

Last PET scan was July 2nd. What a difference 3 and 1/2 months can make, huh? The miracles of modern medicine and all that.

When Dr. R. told us the news, I said "Lucky man, good doctor" and that's truly how I feel. Lucky that my cancer was treatable, lucky that I responded well to the treatment, lucky so far that I really haven't been very sick. Lucky to have a really good doctor with a good team behind him. Lucky to have support from friends and family.

It's not over yet, but it certainly doesn't look good for the opposition!

THANKS SO MUCH to everyone for all their support. Everyone has been great and I appreciate it and love you all for that so much. Your support and good wishes have been off the charts, honestly.

Shortly after I was diagnosed, I wrote that "The world looked a little different after I was first diagnosed."

It looks a LOT different after getting the readout today.