We had to wait for half an hour before we got to see the doctor this morning. Usually that's nerve-wrecking when there's a CT analysis on the agenda and I'm booked with the senior doctor. This morning the TV was on and I got to watch the third period of Sweden-Slovakia, Olympic ice-hockey quarter-finals, and I almost forgot about what was to come. Sweden surprisingly lost.
The CT scan showed that the direction is still good. No new tumors and the existing tumors are the same size or slightly smaller. CEA had gone up to 57,6 (from 30,3 in December). I was a bit worried about this but the doctor said the pictures are the most important and that other non-cancer factors can impact CEA. The tumor measurements were:
* 6,3 x 3,4 cm (previously 6,7 x 4,1 cm)
* 2,5 x 4,3 cm (previously 2,6 x 4,2 cm)
* 2,1 x 1,5 cm (previously 2,1 x 1,9 cm)
* 1,7 x 2,4 cm (previously 1,7 x 2,4 cm)
We decided to continue the weekly chemo though it's quite tiring. The doctor said I could also change to a bi-weekly treatment schedule, but the schedule I am on now is the most common and most studied one and it is probably also the most effective way of doing it. So I decided to stay on the weekly schedule for the time being, but it is nice to know there is a bi-weekly option as well.
Marjo brought up the issue of future treatment alternatives. We can at least forget the RFA radiation (radio-frequency ablation), which the Independent article in my previous blog post talked about. The doctor explained it would do more harm than good in my case because of the positioning of the tumors. They're sitting too close the border of the liver and thus the radiation might cause damage on other organs close to the liver. He did mention some other possible treatments but Marjo was in a hurry to get to work (as the doctor was half an hour late) so we didn't have much time to discuss that. Will have to ask more about those some other time.
Actually, the doctor didn't discuss the future alternatives much but he mentioned that a longer break from chemo to let the body recover may be possible/necessary at some point as I have been on chemo for almost two years soon. I could also continue with Erbitux and Xeloda only and leave the heaviest chemo Camptosar out for a while. I said a break would be great during summer time but we didn't make any detailed plans.
The CT scan showed that the direction is still good. No new tumors and the existing tumors are the same size or slightly smaller. CEA had gone up to 57,6 (from 30,3 in December). I was a bit worried about this but the doctor said the pictures are the most important and that other non-cancer factors can impact CEA. The tumor measurements were:
* 6,3 x 3,4 cm (previously 6,7 x 4,1 cm)
* 2,5 x 4,3 cm (previously 2,6 x 4,2 cm)
* 2,1 x 1,5 cm (previously 2,1 x 1,9 cm)
* 1,7 x 2,4 cm (previously 1,7 x 2,4 cm)
We decided to continue the weekly chemo though it's quite tiring. The doctor said I could also change to a bi-weekly treatment schedule, but the schedule I am on now is the most common and most studied one and it is probably also the most effective way of doing it. So I decided to stay on the weekly schedule for the time being, but it is nice to know there is a bi-weekly option as well.
Marjo brought up the issue of future treatment alternatives. We can at least forget the RFA radiation (radio-frequency ablation), which the Independent article in my previous blog post talked about. The doctor explained it would do more harm than good in my case because of the positioning of the tumors. They're sitting too close the border of the liver and thus the radiation might cause damage on other organs close to the liver. He did mention some other possible treatments but Marjo was in a hurry to get to work (as the doctor was half an hour late) so we didn't have much time to discuss that. Will have to ask more about those some other time.
Actually, the doctor didn't discuss the future alternatives much but he mentioned that a longer break from chemo to let the body recover may be possible/necessary at some point as I have been on chemo for almost two years soon. I could also continue with Erbitux and Xeloda only and leave the heaviest chemo Camptosar out for a while. I said a break would be great during summer time but we didn't make any detailed plans.
No comments:
Post a Comment