OK, so as you probably know by now, my CEA last week had dropped to 7.7, down from 17.1 two weeks prior. For me this is a significant drop. So when I went to see the oncologist this past Monday to review the results from the CT scan we were perplexed. The report indicated that there are "multiple sites of mass-like arterial enhancement seen throughout the right hepatic lobe." It goes on to list 4 suspicious spots, in addition to the one previously noted. What doesn't make sense is that if I now have four more spots (whereas before I only had one) then the CEA would be expected to go up, not down.
Dr. Dormady then asked me to go see Dr. Komlos (the IR) with my discs in hand and asked him to take a look and give his opinion. He did comment that my liver "looks funny" but he doesn't think that these new spots are tumors. With the lowered CEA he is more inclined to think that it's inflammation.
So, where does that leave us? It leaves us with the plan to re-start the systemic chemotherapy in two weeks. We will do four treatments and then I will get re-scanned. At that time, three months will have passed since my chemoembolization and if it is inflammation from that then it will subside.
At that time we will see what we are still dealing with.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
CEA and CT Scan Update
Howdy folks,
As a lot of you already know, last Friday I got the great news that my CEA has dropped from 17.1 to 7.7 in just two weeks. Yay for chemoembolization!!
I know I promised you all that I'd let you know what the CT scan report had to say. However, the report says some stuff that makes no sense with the reduced CEA so the oncologist wants me to have the interventional radiologist (who did the embolization) to look at the images and give his assessment. That will happen on Friday and once I get his reading of the scan I'll report back here to you.
I can tell you that no matter what Dr. Komlos has to say, Dr. Dormady wants me to go back on the butt-kicking chemo in two weeks, so that will start up again. I'm plowing ahead full steam until then, getting the garden perfected, etc.
Stay tuned!
As a lot of you already know, last Friday I got the great news that my CEA has dropped from 17.1 to 7.7 in just two weeks. Yay for chemoembolization!!
I know I promised you all that I'd let you know what the CT scan report had to say. However, the report says some stuff that makes no sense with the reduced CEA so the oncologist wants me to have the interventional radiologist (who did the embolization) to look at the images and give his assessment. That will happen on Friday and once I get his reading of the scan I'll report back here to you.
I can tell you that no matter what Dr. Komlos has to say, Dr. Dormady wants me to go back on the butt-kicking chemo in two weeks, so that will start up again. I'm plowing ahead full steam until then, getting the garden perfected, etc.
Stay tuned!
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Almost Normal
Howdy folks!! Did you enjoy my "guest blogger"? David does write so very well. I tried to convince him to make another post for me but I guess he didn't feel like it. I also didn't feel like it for a few days. My head was just so tired I couldn't expend any energy to forming coherent sentences. That may have made for fun reading, but I chose to wait until I felt better.
I made it home from the hospital on Friday May 26. All I felt like doing for the next few days was sleeping, however it was difficult for me to sleep at night. Well, let me elaborate. The first few nights I took medication before going to bed to help me get to sleep, but I don't like to do that too many days in a row because that stuff can make you dependent on it. And I just really don't want that. For a couple of nights I tried getting to sleep "au natural" but it just wasn't working. If I decided to be stubborn then I would wake up many, many times during the night and then I'd feel so tired the next day. One night I gave up and took some Benadryl, thinking that would help. It didn't so I took an Ambien. Well, that barely helped either. Anyway, the last two nights I've taken Ambien because today and yesterday were days that I wanted to feel good and well-rested, and that has worked.
Another thing I had to deal with the last week or so is GI discomfort, a feeling of fullness in my abdomen. When I take 3 Advil (the doctor said to) along with a Pepcid (to help prevent stomach ulcers from the Advil) I feel better. I guess there's some inflammation going on in my liver and maybe my GI tract. I will keep medicated until it's better. I was told that the beads will emit drugs for two weeks.
Yesterday I felt quite good and David and I were able to do our planned activities. Today I feel great and have been active all day. We tried to get the garden planted but then the wind started gusting, so I'm postponing it until it calms down. I'd hate to plant the nice tomato plants and have them break. I could stake them inside their cages... or I can just wait a day or two.
:-)
Now, at this time, I'd like to introduce you to Fatty!!
And this is a beautiful House Finch!! The bright colors mark him as a male.
I know this is a dedicated cancer blog, but maybe next time I'll post pics of the garden, once all the plants are in. After all, the birds and the garden are part of my battle. It's all part of the big picture.
(By the way, if you click on the pictures they will come up larger.)
I made it home from the hospital on Friday May 26. All I felt like doing for the next few days was sleeping, however it was difficult for me to sleep at night. Well, let me elaborate. The first few nights I took medication before going to bed to help me get to sleep, but I don't like to do that too many days in a row because that stuff can make you dependent on it. And I just really don't want that. For a couple of nights I tried getting to sleep "au natural" but it just wasn't working. If I decided to be stubborn then I would wake up many, many times during the night and then I'd feel so tired the next day. One night I gave up and took some Benadryl, thinking that would help. It didn't so I took an Ambien. Well, that barely helped either. Anyway, the last two nights I've taken Ambien because today and yesterday were days that I wanted to feel good and well-rested, and that has worked.
Another thing I had to deal with the last week or so is GI discomfort, a feeling of fullness in my abdomen. When I take 3 Advil (the doctor said to) along with a Pepcid (to help prevent stomach ulcers from the Advil) I feel better. I guess there's some inflammation going on in my liver and maybe my GI tract. I will keep medicated until it's better. I was told that the beads will emit drugs for two weeks.
Yesterday I felt quite good and David and I were able to do our planned activities. Today I feel great and have been active all day. We tried to get the garden planted but then the wind started gusting, so I'm postponing it until it calms down. I'd hate to plant the nice tomato plants and have them break. I could stake them inside their cages... or I can just wait a day or two.
:-)
Now, at this time, I'd like to introduce you to Fatty!!
Fatty started coming to the feeder a couple of weeks ago and at first I thought he was puffy because he was sick, yet his eyes didn't look crusted. When I showed him to my mother-in-law she said it looked like it was still downy and could be a fledgeling, perhaps a baby finch. That made sense to me, so I went with it.
The strange thing about Fatty is that he seems unafraid of us. The other day while I was sitting outside in my lounger less than 10 feet from the feeder I reached over, picked up my bottled drink and gave it a shake. Then I noticed Fatty was sitting on the feeder. Any other bird would have been startled by the bottle shake but he just sat there, closed his eyes, and took a nap. Sometimes when he is on the feeder when we go outside he stays there, trusting us. I think it's cute.
A couple of days ago David went outside and heard the distinctive metallic "chink" sound of a California Towhee. He looked over to see where it came from, and it was Fatty!! So, now we know that Fatty is a fledgeling Towhee. So, this brings me to another strange thing about him. Usually Towhees are ground foragers and we never see them at the feeder. They prefer to stay on the ground, scratching and pecking. So to have Fatty hanging out at the feeder is quite strange. But we are happy to have a bird come and visit so often that we instantly recognize.
Someday he will lose his baby fluff and will start to look like every other Towhee and then I guess we will lose track of him. Unless, of course, he keeps coming to the feeder. :-)
[EDIT: Someone else suggested this could be a red house finch fledgeling because towhees have longer tails. We have so many finches around so that would make sense.]
Here is a picture of him in the pan beneath the feeder, helping himself to a meal:
This is a cute Titmouse. It's is quite skittish and won't stay long for a picture.
And this is a beautiful House Finch!! The bright colors mark him as a male.
I know this is a dedicated cancer blog, but maybe next time I'll post pics of the garden, once all the plants are in. After all, the birds and the garden are part of my battle. It's all part of the big picture.
(By the way, if you click on the pictures they will come up larger.)
[EDIT: It never even occurred to me that some people might be offended by the nickname I gave the fledgeling. But someone on a forum is. Anyway, I have a few extra pounds too. For me, for the bird (sounds like Randy Jackson on American Idol), Fatty was an affectionate name for the cute young bird. I apologize if anyone was offended. I was only referring to the bird.]
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