August 9th, 2006 ~Drum roll please…… The New results are in!

I met with my doctor today to go over my latest PETScan and blood work, and the results were GREAT!!!! Praise be to God. I not going to bother going into all the scientific mumbo jumbo, because most of you have already told me before you don’t understand any of that.  lol.  I am just learning along the way, because I want and need to know what the doctors are talking about. Mind you the doc moved up my scan to this month instead of next month, to make sure my new treatment was working. Normally the scans are done every three months. At $3500. a pop good thing. So if there was no improvement or any had spread, we were going to do chemotherapy immediately. So as of two months ago I started meds that would force my body into menopause, because my cancer feeds off of estrogen.  By killing off the estrogen, it would make it harder for the cancer to survive. (just giving you a refresher course there). It has pretty much made it hard as hell for me to survive those damn hot flashes and major sweats. But you all have heard my drama about that.  So basically here is the scoop.

Just a brief explanation.  SUV, FDG, and tracker uptake, all basically mean the med they inject in me before the scan is allowed to travel through out my body for an hour before the scan is done.  It absorbs into any and all areas where cancer cells are. That uptake is how the measurements are done on the scans.

The tumor in my left breast has now shrunk by 50% compared to my scan in June, and it has softened, almost to the point where both my breast “feel” the same now. SUV uptake (of the tracer meds given for the scan) dropped by half as well. Really great news.

Head and neck appeared stable.  Brain was normal.(matter of opinion I am sure some of you might say)

The effected lymph node in the left axillary fossa has decreased in size and the SUV uptake dropped from 5.1 to 1.9.  Barely absorbed any of the FDG at all. Another great sign. There were other areas of nodules and masses associated with the chest area and pulmonary that were there before that are now GONE.  The fluid in my right lung is gone and the cancer within the lower wall/outer lining of that lung is gone.

Liver is fine.  Fluid in my pelvis is gone. Right ovary is still enlarged but the SUV uptake has decreased by about 40%.  Left Ovarian activity has resolved.

Bone cancer lesions appear stable in size and extent.  None have spread nor no new bone lesions. Uptake in all skeleton areas decreased by about 50%, but one area that was the most intense in the last scan being in my L1 vertebral body decreased in uptake by 60%. 

So impression from Doc who read scans:  So over all size and intensity of cancer is decreased, sites of nodal, pleural, ovarian, and osseous (skeletal) have improved.  Findings are consistent with positive interval response to therapy.  There is no interval tumor progression.  This is AWESOME news!!! 

Now my bloodwork was a different story.  Remember at the beginning where my CH levels were in the 700′s and then the 600′s and then in June they were 24.9 (normal).  Well this month they are 151.7.  So my doctor said she was more apt to believe the PETscan results that proved there were positive changes then to depend on the results from the bloodwork.  She believes those results have to be wrong.  So we did another set today. She said if anything Junes results of 24.9 were probably in error and the new ones of 151.7 would still show a drastic improvement from the 700′s. because it would not make any sense for the CH levels to be normal in June, and increase when the petscan results show a drastic improvement. So we will see what the new ones say that we did today.

SO YEAH, no chemotherapy!!!!  BUT she wants my ovaries removed in the next three weeks. She ran a few hormonal test with my bloodwork and they showed that my ovaries are so healthy they are fighting the drugs I am taking that is trying to shut them down to stop them from producing estrogen. So as good as the results were, they could have been better if my ovaries would just listen to what the drugs are telling them to do. So by removing them that fixes that, and I won’t have to have the Luprin shot any more. Now the problem is the office nurse started calling doctors to schedule the surgery and guess what, all the ones she called would not even see me because I do not have traditional insurance.  They said they would not accept the financial aid I have. Even my own Gynecologist. So she was making a call to a Doctors group in another county when I left and she said she would call me if she found someone. I never heard from her today. I told her if anything, I will try and come up with the money to atleast pay the surgeon myself, because the hospital will accept the financial aid for their portion. It is just rediculous that the doctors won’t accept that.  They would get paid and it could save my life.  They really suck! I only have that three week threshold too. Because the Luprin shot lasts for three months and I will need a new dose the middle of Sept, if I don’t get the ovaries removed.  If I have to get the shot then, then I can’t schedule another surgery till three months later, because having the shot in my system and no ovaries would double the menopausal effects and make me very ill. So will see what I can do. And this is why so many cancer patients die, because most doctors are in it for the money not the desire to cure people.

Now this is what my Doctor told me today. She is keeping records of everything I am taking and everything I am doing. Because something is working, and it may help someone else through research.  I am doing my own thing above and beyond the traditional therapies she has prescribed for me.  She said if my body kept responding the way it is, and I was able to maintain, she could see me gaining a few more years at the least.  How sweet is that.  What she does not know, is that I plan on putting this shit in remission and then she will have something to write about in those medical journals. Even if I got just another 7 years, that would be better then 2.

Now I do have a favor to ask.  My Aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer last week. She had surgery today to remove the tumor.  They caught it while it was still small, and they believe after 6 to 7 weeks of radiation as a follow up after the surgery that she will be cured.  Thank God she stays on top of her yearly mammograms. That is how they found it. Girls GET your mammogram TODAY! The thing is when I was first diagnosed with cancer back in February, this very Aunt and my Uncle got in their car the very next day and headed down here from Texas to see me and give me their love. And now just 6 months later she is facing the same battle. Just damn strange.  So all I ask since your prayers seem to be so effective is say a little prayer for her, Norma Andrews.

So things are looking so sweet right now for me, and I have been feeling pretty good as well.  I have been sick with a cold for about a week and half but getting better every day.  I thank each and every one of you who have prayed for me, and given me words of encouragement. Shared your love and friendship.  You all mean the world to me. You all may not realize it, but you have become my back bone. You hold me up and keep me strong.