Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Saturday, September 12, 2009

oncological whack-a-mole

As you all know Rebecca's has been feeling pretty good for the last few months. She had a bad 6 months at the end of last year and the beginning of this but after she started on chemo she got massive relief from her symptoms and got a lot of her energy back. She went in for a CT scan this week. As we expected the tumor in the lungs has significantly receded, hence the relief in symptoms. What comes as a complete surprise is that meanwhile the cancer in her liver has progressed significantly. Apparently one only needs about 20% of one’s liver to function and Rebecca’s is only compromised by 10%-15% so she’s in no immediate danger from liver related side-effects. The progression is considerable though; going from one visible lesion to (we counted) 20. When the liver is effected with one large mass it is possible to apply a local treatment directly on the tumor. With the tumor spread out as it is the only treatment option is systemic. (Even the doc made a fried liver joke at this point).

The doc has made it very clear that we should stop the current treatment and go on to another that will address the progression in the liver. He has given us a choice of 3 different chemo options to chose from; strawberry, vanilla or chocolate… oh no that was at the store after. I can’t remember right now what the choices are but as I research them and commit all the pros and cons to memory I will share them with you here. Doctor made it very clear that even if there is no net increase in tumor mass this is a concerning result. The cancer in the liver is now the ‘primary concern’ so all those good healing thoughts that we have all been beaming at Rebecca’s lungs so effectively; now need to be directed at her Liver.

We are both a little freaked out but are trying to remember to just stay on the moment and enjoy the time we have right now.

We will keep you posted.

LOTS OF LOVE