Last Friday, I had my appointment with Dr. Angelopoulos. She was pleased to see that the lesions in my brain have shown some shrinkage from the scan reports. I got her to agree to cut the dosage on the anti-seizure medication, but she isn't optimistic that it will improve my appetite. I figure it can't hurt, and I am always trying to reduce the amount of medication I am taking anyway!
My next appointment with her isn't for three months, so at least I won't have to worry about that for awhile!
Monday, February 14, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
...And the Results Are In
I had the Brain MRI and CAT scan along with the usual bloodwork at Rush today. It's all good news. The CAT scan showed no change in the lung tumor and the MRI showed a bit more shrinkage in the lesions in the brain. All the bloodwork came back normal. I couldn't really ask for more.
So we will continue on this course - Tarceva every other day. I'm still working on eating more (I never in my life thought I'd have to write those words!) and doc seems to think that if my appetite hasn't come back by now, it probably won't. I'm going to talk to Dr. Angelopolous, my neurologist, at our appointment Friday about cutting back on the anti-seizure meds to see if that might help the appetite (plus I've been on them over 6 months and haven't had a seizure since the original one in early July). There are also some drugs that Dr. B can prescribe to stimulate appetite but I'd really like to find a different way. The wine before dinner seems to be helping.
In a couple months, Dr. B wants me to have a PET scan along with the brain MRI to make sure the cancer has stayed contained and consult with Dr. Diaz, a radiation oncologist, to evaluate if we should use focused radiation on either the brain, lung or both. Once we get to that place, we'll have to do more research on the best focused radiation approach to use. Rush uses one form of stereotactic radiation, but there are several forms, each with different pros and cons we will want to look into - but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I asked Dr. B why we would want to do focused radiation if we are still seeing progress with the Tarceva alone. He said that typically the cancer cells eventually develop a resistance to the treatment (usually around 12 months into the treatment) and we want to get ahead of it and see if we can eliminate the tumors. I'm all for that, as long as the risks and possible side effects are minimal.
Regarding my hair, I now have a reverse mohawk with dark baby-down hair everywhere except right down the middle, where there is an inch-wide stripe that is shorter and more like stubble. But we are making progress, which seems to be the theme of this blog. And progress is good!
So we will continue on this course - Tarceva every other day. I'm still working on eating more (I never in my life thought I'd have to write those words!) and doc seems to think that if my appetite hasn't come back by now, it probably won't. I'm going to talk to Dr. Angelopolous, my neurologist, at our appointment Friday about cutting back on the anti-seizure meds to see if that might help the appetite (plus I've been on them over 6 months and haven't had a seizure since the original one in early July). There are also some drugs that Dr. B can prescribe to stimulate appetite but I'd really like to find a different way. The wine before dinner seems to be helping.
In a couple months, Dr. B wants me to have a PET scan along with the brain MRI to make sure the cancer has stayed contained and consult with Dr. Diaz, a radiation oncologist, to evaluate if we should use focused radiation on either the brain, lung or both. Once we get to that place, we'll have to do more research on the best focused radiation approach to use. Rush uses one form of stereotactic radiation, but there are several forms, each with different pros and cons we will want to look into - but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. I asked Dr. B why we would want to do focused radiation if we are still seeing progress with the Tarceva alone. He said that typically the cancer cells eventually develop a resistance to the treatment (usually around 12 months into the treatment) and we want to get ahead of it and see if we can eliminate the tumors. I'm all for that, as long as the risks and possible side effects are minimal.
Regarding my hair, I now have a reverse mohawk with dark baby-down hair everywhere except right down the middle, where there is an inch-wide stripe that is shorter and more like stubble. But we are making progress, which seems to be the theme of this blog. And progress is good!
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