My chemo treatment got off schedule this week due to the Monday holiday.
The nurse came this morning and took my pump off and I am now free from chemo for a week and a half. This round went well, no fever, chills or sickness. I was a lot more tired this round. I slept more on Tuesday than I have in a long time. Wednesday I went to the office and worked for a few hours and got a lot done…but when I got home I spent the evening sleeping and napping. At one point I was sitting in my chair working to hydrate myself with a large cup of water and drifted off to sleep. I woke up to the sound of water pouring out of the glass and onto my lap. I quickly woke up and cleaned up my chair, changed into dry clothes and then went to lay down on the couch for a nap…leaving the hydration to a later time.
My oncologist called yesterday. He finally got the results from comparing my two scans. The problem arose from the fact that I have two accounts at Chester County Hospital. The first time I went into the hospital I was never officially released…according to the hospital. When I returned to the ER a few weeks later I gave my name and the nurse behind the counter said, “Well, you are still a patient here at the hospital.” I suggested that if that was the case I should just skip all the drama of the ER and just go upstairs to the oncology floor. Of course that did not work. Their answer was to create a second account under my name to help get me into the ER and get things moving that night. All of this resulted in the technicians who were supposed to compare my scans not seeing that there was a prior scan to compare to…as my second scan was under a new account.
Now that we figured out why the comparison was not done it was time to talk about results. My first scan reported that, “the liver is enlarged with innumerable masses”. My most recent scan reported, “the liver is normal in size with numerous liver metastases.” In talking with my oncologist he was “encouraged by the numbers.” Looking over the two reports they highlight the size of the largest masses on my liver. It is clear that the masses are getting less in number and that they are smaller today than they were a few months ago!
My oncologist is looking at three things to evaluate how I am responding to treatment. First, how I feel…and we all agree I am feeling much better than when we first started this journey. Second, the numbers related to my blood test…and they showed a 75% improvement when he expected a 25% improvement at this point in the treatment journey. Third, the results from this scan comparison…and this report is positive. So on all three levels of evaluation things are moving in a positive direction. I am thankful and excited to see what happens as we continue through the next seven rounds of chemotherapy treatments.
I appreciate all the prayers and support that has been given to me and to my family as we walk through this journey. It is not over….there is a long way to go and it is clear to me that I will be walking with my oncologist for the rest of my life. His goal of prolonging and improving my quality of life is a good one and I am excited to see what God has in store for this season of my life.
Great news i will continue to pray for your recover
Glad to hear you are moving in the right direction.