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Health knowledge made personal
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Health knowledge made personal
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Note (actually a disclaimer): In the past I have discouraged taking a wait and see attitude. Nothing angers me more than a doctor who wants to wait and see if already active cancer will grow or spread before deciding on a plan of attack. I say attack as hard as you can as long as you can. We are waiting two months before doing something because the growth we saw was not very much. Just enough to get our attention. Had it been more, you can bet I would not bother waiting. Instead, we would have changed by now. MJL Pam, the PA came in and was very friendly and in a playful mood as she looked me over. During the check I mentioned a belly pain I keep getting in the left side. Now, this pain is more an irritant than anything else. It will hit when I least expect it and I hold myself until it passes. It feels sort of like gas passing through the system yet it stays in one place. It's been there for a number of months so, I told Pam about it. "You ever have a colonoscopy?" she asked, reaching for an order form like a mechanic. "Nope," said I with some trepidation. I knew where this was going. "Well, you're over due so we need to get one," said she. Glenda chuckled from the corner chair. I know RCC can and will spread to the intestines if given the chance so, even though I hesitate to undergo the discomfort, I feel it is required if we are going to win this war. I just know they are going to knock me out so I don't feel a thing. Go ahead and laugh. I can take it. Dr. T came in and right away saw there was growth in the lungs. Thankfully, there are no other mets anyplace else that we can see so he focused on the largest in my left lung. It measures just over 1cm. As we looked at the scan prior and this one, I asked if we could cut the little puke out. Tear out the little cancer bastard, I say. Out damn spot! Dr. T said he didn't think it would be a good idea to go cutting for just one met. I said I want it gone. Don't care how many times we have to go in to extirpate them little cancer bastards. I let him know I know that Sutent has an efficiency span of about 26 months and it is coming up on 24 in July so growth isn't unexpected. Glenda, on the other hand, squirmed in the chair, worried things were taking a bad turn. I looked to her and she looked at me and I held my hand out to her to calm her some. When she stopped squirming, I waved her to me and she fairly jumped out of her chair and came to me where we held hands and looked at the screen. Dr. T pointed out the met that is attempting to find a way around Sutent's defenses and, yes, the change was evident. My platelets were low. Normal is 150 and they were around 145. Still, they were lower in February when they did the last scan so we were pleased to see they had climbed. Other than that, everything else was normal. Even my lungs. My oxygen intake is good. Lung capacity is 88% and the oxygen/co2 exchange is good. Thanks to the treadmill workouts this Spring at college, I feel great. So, we talked about switching to something else. Of course, they mentioned a trial. Being determined to fight this Beast, I am not very willing to test. I would rather fight with Nexavar or Torisel. Kick some cancer ass, you know? We're just happy the growth isn't more. All the other mets are unchanged. Another reason I want the big boy cut out. Scare the little ones into getting out of Dodge. So, we go back in two months vs the four month interval we planned on. If the growth is more pronounced, we will stop the Sutent and try something else. We're concerned but not too worried yet. We will see what the next scan shows and decide acordingly. I see this as round three coming up. Think I'll watch a Rocky movie.  |
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